Salt Lake civic body shows its green thumb

KOLKATA: Go green. That is the current mantra of Bidhannagar municipality which intends to grow trees of different varieties, develop parks and beautify boulevards and dividers to make Salt Lake more verdant in the days to come. Each of the 25 ward committees is being paid Rs 5,000 and handed over 30 saplings of deodar, palm, guava, coconut, palash and neem to give shape to the civic body's dream.Setting the momentum, the municipality's newly appointed chairperson Krishna Chakraborty had planted a few saplings at BK block last week, which was observed as Forest Week.
Apart from hundreds of trees damaged by the Aila storm, about 800 large trees were felled to assist the ongoing East-West Metro project. Authorities did plan about 2,500 saplings in different parts of the township but compensatory plantation has not been carried out properly. Trees have been planted haphazardly on roadsides. Though civic officials admit that aftercare of saplings is as important as planting them, it has often been noticed that saplings along boulevards and sidewalks die for want of proper planning and care.
This time round, civic authorities are emphasizing on beautifying boulevards and dividers. But with roots of full-grown trees damaging sewer and drainage lines in the past, officials say streets will be landscaped and many large trees will be replaced with small ornamental saplings. The surface will be laid with fresh green and smooth grass.
There are about 80 small and big parks in the township. Though quite a few of them have been developed by ward committees after the Trinamool board came to power last year, many parks still lying neglected. According to plans, each park will have a separate children's corner with a rounded pathway for senior citizens and walkers. Also, the parks will be properly illuminated so that women and children can stay there after dark.
Already, the much-neglected greenverge that connects First Avenue to the canal sidewalk at AE Block has been beautified with small saplings, water fountains and a children's park. Earlier, people felt very unsafe to move along it. Local councillor Swati Banerjee has spent almost Rs 18 lakh on this project.