Vijayawada: The city's green hills project has been in cold storage even though the Forest department submitted a report to the state government, highlighting its importance. As per the report, saplings should be planted on hills within the city limits, using clay as required to nurture the plants.
The government recently made an attempt to sprinkle seeds, but it has not taken the Forest department’s recommendations seriously. Consequently, the city is confined to only 9 per cent green cover against its original norm of 33 per cent forest area on the total land. Officials say that if the project is implemented successfully, the city’s weather will become cooler.
The officials of the Forest department suggested that the encroachments on hills be removed first by providing the people alternative housing and the hills fenced in to prevent their recurrence.
Later, several varieties of plants should be grown on the hills. The Forest department observed that the top of the hills had already lost its soil and moisture which helps to grow trees. Suitable clay should therefore be deposited at required spots on the hills, says the report.
Preliminary estimates say that a budget of nearly Rs 4.5 crore is required to grow plants on hills. The shifting of encroachments and providing of rehabilitation are not included in the budget. The government had intended to implement the project a year ago. But no action has been taken so far.
The Parvathi Ramalingeswara Swami temple hill at Yanamalakuduru on the city’s outskirts serves as a good example of many new plants filling the area, an enterprise that has been successful due to the initiative of DFO Ashok Kumar, who urged people to plant saplings on hills, a drive which was supported by philanthropist Sanga Narasimha Rao, who, having already spent crores of rupees on temple renovation, also pitched in to raise plants on the hill.
VGTM VUDA chairman Tumati Premnath, however, points out that political parties in the city were opposed to shifting residents from the hill areas, and therefore, the government may not implement the project. He recalled that late eminent engineer K.L. Rao had also suggested growing plants on hills to change the city’s landscape in the hot weather.
