Miyawaki miracle in Bengaluru
BENGALURU: In the vast, arid space bereft of living creatures in the past, today pigeons coo around joyously as the day dawns while bees buzz around carefree and colourful butterflies flit from flower to flower. The dense tree cover created on 1,250 square metres of space in the diesel loco shed in Krishnarajarapuram in the last three years is the reason these delightful creatures have opted to stop by.
Altogether 4,100 trees find place in this limited space, thanks to the adoption of the unique Japanese style of forestry – Miyawaki. Tree experts swear this afforestation method as the healthiest option to counter the concrete, pollution -packed spaces our cities have transformed themselves into.
Named after a venerated 91-year-old living Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, the concept is gradually gaining traction in India, particularly in Bengaluru. The Non-Governmental Organisation, ‘SayTrees Environmental Trust', was instrumental in goading railway officials at this little known shed littered with broken down railway engines to become the first Railway entity in the country to adopt Miyawaki. The Indian Railway Disaster Management Institute at Hejjala emulated it on a larger scale six months ago with 14,000 saplings laid there.
Shashank Sharma, Project Co-ordinator of the NGO, is passionate about spreading this concept to the world. Breaking down this mysterious, musical, sounding term in simplistic terms, Sharma says it involves the raising of trees in very close contact with each other.
“Trees raised in such proximity grow ten times faster and are 30 times denser than those planted in the regular fashion,” he says. Providing a more detailed explanation, the tree lover says, ''Ön a 300 square metre plot of land, one generally raises anywhere between 50 and 70 saplings, leaving a distance of 50 feet to 70 feet from each other.
However, if one decides to opt for Miyawaki, one can plant 1,000 saplings in the same space.” The amount of oxygen that emanates from this crowded green bunch would definitely ensure a cleaner, healthier life for those living in its vicinity, Sharma adds.
Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer P Murali Krishna takes immense pride that the loco shed houses this mini forest. “The benefits of it are enormous and it purifies the entire area,” he says. Giving a timeline, Krishna says the forest was set up in two phases. “It was on September 24, 2016 that planting of the first batch of 2,000 saplings was started on 600 square metres of land while the second phase began of planting of another 2,100 saplings began on December 20, 2017 on 650 square metres of land. We have 49 varieties of trees here now,” Krishna explains. Railways has funded it.
P Sreenivasan, Senior Section Engineer, says, “We have 49 varieties of saplings in our premises now. Seventy per cent of them are evergreen saplings while the remainder are deciduous or perennial.”
Stating that a general love for trees was important, Sreenivasan adds, “A good number of the railway employees here were inclined towards increasing the greenery around and put up small trees wherever they were permitted within our premises and voluntarily took care of them too. Impressed with the general upkeep of the plants, SayTrees approached us and proposed we adopt the Miyawaki method. We too liked the idea immensely.”
The NGO co-ordinator cautions that maintenance of the trees is crucial. “In whichever place we have set up the Miyawaki, we also provide a gardener to the organisation so that the trees are raised in the right manner for the first two years,” he said.