4 days ago
Plantation drive, roadside reservoirs: How Madhya Pradesh PWD is thinking green
A pro-environment initiative has been brought into action from somewhat unexpected quarters in Madhya Pradesh, where the public works department (PWD)—traditionally associated with construction activity—has embarked upon a massive plantation process of planting some 250,000 saplings on roadsides—both state and national highways—campuses of PWD-owned buildings and open public land in rural and urban areas was initiated a month ago. It was all done in a single day, with protection measures for the planted saplings now PWD roped in specialised bodies to monitor the growth of the saplings, which belong to various indigenous varieties. These have been geo-tagged and their health will be monitored through satellite images, to be obtained from the Gujarat-based Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and minister Rakesh Singh told INDIA TODAY the plantation drive will also help prevent encroachment on public land alongside roads. He said the department is also creating reservoirs, called 'Lok Kalyan Sarover'.
The concept behind the reservoirs is interesting. Road contractors often use soil available from the closest point for projects. The PWD has now told contractors they can dig soil only from designated spots and that the crater formed will have to be turned into a reservoir. The reservoirs would be reinforced using engineering concepts and geo-tagged. In the first phase, 500 Lok Kalyan Sarovers are PWD has also made it mandatory for all flyovers and rail overbridges to have bores for recharging groundwater through rain. This is meant to help improve the water of buildings adversely impacts air quality while the use of bitumen, tar and cement in road-building is environmentally degrading. Successful plantation drives can prove to be ameliorative provided these are taken up as sustainable and long-term interventions. The state forest department plants saplings every year in massive numbers but their success rate has been abysmal. Can MP's biggest construction entity do the job better?Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InMust Watch
