Odisha: Plan To Expand Green Cover In Sambalpur

Sambalpur: Plans are afoot to launch a massive plantation drive in the western Odisha city of Sambalpur to increase green cover along the ring road and beautify the area.

A proposal to plant over 14,000 trees along the ring road in the city has been sent to the state government for its approval by the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC), reports said.

The SMC will launch the plantation drive once the state government accords approval for the same, they said, adding that the plan includes plantation of around 8,000 small trees and 6,000 big ones.

While the small trees, which grow up to three feet, will be planted on the divider of the road, the bigger ones will be planted on both sides of the road which connects Nelson Mandela Chowk in the city with National Highway-53 at Laxmi Dungri covering around 7.5 km, sources said.

The road was constructed in 1997 to protect the city from floods and provide residents with an alternative route from NH-53. A few years back, the road was widened into two-lane by the Public Works Department (PWD) to avoid traffic congestion. The road was renamed Mahatma Gandhi Marg in 2019.

As a number of development projects are being implemented along the ring road, the riverfront of Mahanadi Ghat is proposed to be renovated under the SAMALEI scheme. The projects also included the new SMC office at Durgapali which became functional recently.

This apart, the plantation drive  can be beneficial for a large number of people who use the ring road for evening and morning walks by increasing the a green cover in the area, sources said, adding that similar programmes are likely to be taken up in other parts of the city too.