New Delhi: With an eye on controlling air pollution in Delhi, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar opened an ‘urban forest in the park of the Comptroller and Auditor Generals (CAG) office on Thursday.
This is part of the Union government’s ‘Nagar Van’ scheme under which 200 urban forests will be developed across the country in the next five years.
Calling them lungs of the cities and oxygen banks, Javadekar said that within 12 months, it would be a dense urban forest with multiple tree layers, including 12,000 saplings of 59 indigenous species.
The ‘Miyawaki’ method of forest creation has been employed in creating the urban forest, which is expect to help reduce the temperature by 14 degrees and increase the moisture by over 40 per cent.
The dense forest ecosystem has been created in the CAG office complex covering an area of just over 1 acre.
Experts say the urban forest will be self-sustainable by October 2021, with minimal maintenance, including watering and de-weeding.
The ecosystem has the capacity to restore habitats for birds, bees, butterflies and microfauna, which are essential for pollination of crops and fruits and to help maintain a balanced ecosystem.
