Odisha's Lush Urban Forest is the Solace that Our Parched Eyes and Soul Need

When you think of urban cities, the first thing that comes to mind is a jungle of concrete. In fact, ‘concrete jungle’ is a phrase specifically used the describe the over-abundance of grey concrete and lack of greenery in densely populated cities.

But if finding country-side like patches of green was possible amidst the hustle-bustle of cities? The Odisha Forest and Environment department’s Twitter posts suggest that it is possible.

The official Twitter handle recently posted pictures so bursting with green it looked like a film scene.

They captioned the pictures: “Place for the wondering souls. Right in the heart of Bhubaneswar city-Jayadev vatica can sooth you down. Department is creating urban forests across the state to provide recreational opportunities to the urbanites.”

The caption is fitting as the ‘urban forests’ are soothing to the eyes. The first image is of a picturesque waterfall that will transport you to the hills of the Western Ghats. The next image is a couple of ducks paddling across a stream with a bamboo bridge. The third image is straw-gazebo with bamboo chairs for a quite evening amongst greens and nature.

The pictures pleased the Twitteri both in and outside Bhubaneshwar.

Even film director, Nila Madhab Panda, sang praises of the new initiative. He wrote: “Great to know , it's a wonderful Initiative ,and to experience a forest in the midst of a city is simply delightful, keep up the good work”.

Here are some other reactions-

The gist of almost all the Twitter reactions can be condensed to one sentence- the people are more than pleased with the initiative. However, as seen with most cases, beautiful parks and gardens are often muddied by people littering the place.

As seen recently, parks and tourist spots opened up after the lockdown in Himachal and other states. No sooner did the place re-open that crowds migrated for their delayed vacations. The result was a line of litter left behind.

While initiatives like this are wonderful, people must do their share work of work and maintain it’s beauty.