Ludhiana’s foray into vertical gardens is paying green dividends

LUDHIANA: Started about four years ago on the walls of income tax (IT) department’s Rishi Nagar office at Ludhiana, the vertical garden initiative of the IT department seems to be yielding green dividends at some of the major landmarks and buildings of the city. Along with putting to use huge number of waste plastic bottles, this vertical garden campaign has been able to plant thousands of plants of different varieties on the walls of the buildings.
Against all odds, about 30,000 plants have bloomed on the walls of eight vertical gardens of the city. Buoyed by the success, dozens of vertical gardens are being setup in Ludhiana district across different types of buildings of religious places, schools and government departments.
The biggest vertical garden of the city is at the IT department’s Rishi Nagar office, which boasts of 13,000 plants on its walls and which have given the building such unique look that it has inspired and motivated visitors, specially officials of other departments who have got these vertical gardens installed in other cities and places after taking guidance from the IT officials here.
The second biggest vertical garden comprising about 8,000 plants is showing results at Dukhniwaran Sahib Gurdwara. Both the gurdwara committee and the devotees look after the project, adding new varieties of saplings. According to gurdwara authorities, the garden has improved the aesthetics of the premises.
Another major vertical garden of the city is the one at Ludhiana railway station, where 2,000 saplings have survived the hustle and bustle of a busy public space.
The vertical garden at Indra Hoseiry’s Sarabha Nagar outlet too is the talk of the town and this garden of about 1,800 plants has become a selfie point for the Ludhiana residents. The garden at DAV Public School BRS Nagar, Satpaul Mittal School, Punjabi Bhawan and Arya College are also among the most successful ones in the city and having considerable number of plants and waste bottles.
According to Rohit Mehra, additional commissioner of income tax, said, who had initially pushed the vertical garden concept, “It gives immense sense of pride and happiness that the campaign that was started on income tax day four years ago has gone on to become a movement. The impact of this movement is not only seen in Punjab, but all over India. As of now, more than 2,00,000 plants have managed to survive and bloom in the waste plastic bottles in Punjab and other states. The biggest projects we have done so far outside of Ludhiana include that of 25,000 plants at Sri Harminder Sahib in Amritsar. We have also been able to establish vertical gardens at IIT-Jammu, Roorkee Jail, Saket district and sessions court and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, to name but a few.”
According to Mehra, the green team of IT department is available 24x7 to assist people with vertical gardens — from giving them tips on maintenance of the gardens to keep them updated about the new techniques and seasonal advisories.
Pritpal Singh Pali, president of the managing committee of Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib, said, “We are greatful to the IT department, specially B K Jha and Rohit Mehra. The best part of vertical garden is that it has fulfilled our wish of having a garden in our gurdwara premises even though there’s not much space.”
According to Sanjay Jain, owner of Indra Hosiery, “We feel blessed to be part of this noble initiative under which we have been given the chance of doing our bit for the environment and city. The real value of plants and oxygen is being realised by entire human race during this Covid-19 crisis and I think more people should come forward and take up this vertical garden campaign, which is far better than the traditional ways of the mass plantations.”