Thiruvananthapuram (TAN): This city in south India’s coastal Kerala state is set for a green makeover. Kerala Tourism is taking the initiative to create a dense forest within a 220sqm area at the heart of the city, says a government statement.
“Around 200 types of saplings – including creepers, subtrees, shrubs, trees, and emergent trees – have been planted in the hope that before long they will smother the whole area in green,” says the state’s tourism department newsletter, adding that the the Kanakakunnu Palace grounds is the primary site for this activity.
As many as 800 saplings have been planted. These include medicinal plants.
The adopted method of afforestation is Akira Miyawaki, which helps create a dense forest in a small pocket of land.
As part of this procedure, a forest bed is created using a mixture of soil, coir pith, dried cow dung and rice hull. The trees chosen are expected to grow tall in two years.
“The project is the first of its kind in the government sector,” said Kerala Tourism director P. Balakiran.
Nature’s Green Guardians, an NGO, is executing the project.
