Environmentally-sensitive citizens should focus more on nurturing trees than just planting saplings, K Babu, Minister for Excise and Ports, has said.
He was inaugurating a workshop organised by the Kerala Forest Department and Amrita School of Arts and Sciences on “greening urban landscape” on Thursday in Edapally Brahmasthan auditorium, Kochi.
Babu pointed that the failure to nurture is resulting in non-fulfillment of several government-sponsored greening projects.
Hibi Eden MLA, in his address, pointed out that greening projects should go hand-in-hand with scientific waste management system. “To have a pollution-free city, scientific waste management is also extremely important along with greening project,” he said.
The workshop concluded that Kochi is facing grave ecological issues with the ongoing massive urbanisation.Papers were presented that referred to the impact of the massive felling of trees in relation with the ongoing construction of Kochi metro. A large number of roadside trees from Aluva to Tripunithura Petta have been axed as part of metro works.
The Forest Department has calculated that at least 14,000 trees would be planted in Kochi in 2014. The strategy of the department is to make residents’ associations, religious institutions, public sector undertakings and educational institutions part of the greening project.
The Forest department has asked these institutions to report the possible extent of the greening campaign that they can potentially take. The department has also decided to accelerate the green campaigning by involving students of visual media department of Amrita School.