Plantation drive planned after survey flags green concerns
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Bhubaneswar: To increase the green cover and meet World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommendation of nine square metres per capita, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has drawn up a plan for a plantation initiative in and around the city's biggest slum, Salia Sahi.
This area is recognised as a high extreme heat risk zone by iForest, an international organisation working on environmental issues.
"We have made arrangements to start the plantation drive during monsoon. The locations have been selected and pits will be dug soon. Trees that can withstand wind and cyclones will be planted. We have selected species such as harida, ashoka, neem, radhachuda and krushnachuda. The saplings will be procured soon.
Dedicated personnel will also be deployed for maintenance in subsequent years," BMC deputy commissioner (environment) Kajal Pradhan said.
iForest conducted a survey in all 67 wards for heat mapping, factors affecting it and for evaluating green coverage. Salia Sahi, comprising Ward Nos. 20, 21 and 26, has the least amount of green cover, while five more wards do not meet the WHO-recommended standard of green cover per person.
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