The Greening of Cyberabad

As part of its massive plantation drive, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which has taken up a programme to plant 10 lakh saplings, will take requests online from institutions, organisations as well as from general public and supply plants at their doorstep after conducting an inspection.The GHMC, which usually takes up plantation of around 50,000 plants every year before the onset of monsoon, has launched a decentralised strategy to plant 10 lakh saplings through community participation between June and September this year. Educational institutions, residential welfare associations, senior citizen associations, NGOs, public and private organisations would coordinate the programme.The civil society partners, who formed a planning committee of 19 members to monitor, would take the lead to identify local partners at zonal, circle and ward level, identify the sites for plantations, propose species and numbers to be planted.By the end of December 2008, 10 lakh plants and 100 parks would come up in the city.Plantation would be taken up in avenues, residential colonies, parks, open spaces, schools, colleges, universities, tank foreshore areas, nalas, public and private institutions. The Osmania University alone would plant one lakh saplings.Besides several NGOs, voluntary society Hyderabad Unplug would coordinate with corporates and engage the services of employees to plant trees in open areas.