21-04-2025
Greening intiative aims to increase green cover in Mangaluru by 30% by 2040: DC
Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada and Administrator of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) M.P. Mullai Muhilan said on Monday that 'Amara', a citizen driven initiative of greening the city, has aimed at increasing the green cover to 30% by 2040.
He was speaking at a programme organised jointly by the MCC, district administration and Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL) to launch the initiative in association with citizen groups.
Mr. Muhilan said that the 'Tree Count Report-Mangaluru 2023' brought out by Nitte (Deemed to be) University in 2023 revealed that the city had only 6.24 % greenery in public places.
The report was prepared by a team led by Smitha Hegde, the then Deputy Director, Centre for Science Education and Research (NUCSER) at Nitte (Deemed to be) University.
Mr. Muhilan said that the greening initiative has aimed at planting 30,000 tree saplings covering 60 wards in this monsoon. In addition, between 50,000 and one lakh mangrove saplings will be planted as part of the initiative, he said adding that the 'Amara' will have to continue in the coming years.
People, institutions can adopt the trees, saplings individually or ward-wise, he said.
The Deputy Commissioner said that the planting locations will be finalised after a careful study in consultation with other departments as once the planting is done those saplings should not be removed for development projects or disturbed.
Mr. Muhilan said that the initiative has been integrated with 'Mangaluru Smart City' app. After installing the app one has to click on 'Amara' section for details on adopting the tree.
The app on Monday put the total trees at public places in the city at 19,872 and the number of adopted trees at 21. According to it, there were 19,851 unadopted trees.
Speaking on the occasion Ms. Hegde, who is now associated with CFAL, said that each plant which will be planted under the initiative will be geotagged and monitored.
As per the time line, ward adoption ends on April 30 and planting sites will be finalised by May 15. The planting drive will begin on June 5, the World Environment Day. The tree audit will be done from June to August and public audit report will be released on August 15, 2025.
Capt. Brijesh Chowta, MP, also attended the launching event. The Commissioner of MCC Ravichandra Naik and Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) Antony Mariappa were present.
To be part of the planting initiative interested persons can call on 9448813823 and 9945924193.
