Bhubaneswar: With no urban elections in sight, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) green initiative is set to benefit from lack of any council with sources claiming that work could be done in a speedy and cost-effective manner.
Every year, the civic body plants about 3,000 saplings in 67 wards. While the estimated duration of plantation takes about three months, `14.6 lakh have been spent in the past five years on saplings and erection of tree guards. About `30 lakh was spent last year on the plantation of 3,000 trees.
However, BMC sources have said that due to the absence of local councillors, the entire process will be completed within 15-20 days and the costs will also be reduced to
`10-12 lakh. Furthermore, the bureaucrats will have a free hand and are reported to be enthusiastic to plant more trees than usual.
“In a bid to appease the voters in their wards, ward councillors compete fiercely among themselves and do not let any ward gain an upper hand by letting it plant more trees than what they would get. The councillors would also select places of their choice and will completely disregard any suggestion given by the experts at the BMC,” a source told Orissa Post.
This competition among the councillors is reported to be a major challenge for the BMC. Apart from financial loss, the Capital city also suffers from improper plantation works due to miscommunication between the council and the bureaucrats.
“The plantation workers, machines and experts would reach the spot on a scheduled date but councillors would cancel and postpone it to some other day. Apart from this, they would demand special types of saplings like Bottle Palms (`500 a sapling) to be planted which would add more to the cost,” the source added.
Meanwhile, observing the excessive loss of green cover due to severe cyclonic storm Fani in the Capital city, the civic authority has planned to increase the number of tree plantations to about 5,000 this year.
With no council involved, it is said, officials will plant trees that could withstand strong cyclonic winds in future. BMC will also focus on areas that have scope for more trees such as Kalinga Vihar, Patrapada, Aiginia and Bharatpur.
“The plantation process will begin in July and end by September. To replenish the green cover, we have planned to plant more trees this year. Karanja (Pongamia Pinnata), Chhatiana (Alstonia Scholaris), Neem (Azadirachta Indica) and Boula (Mimusops Elengi) will be the type of trees we will be planting this year,” said Kapilendra Sethi, environment officer at the BMC.
The move of planting additional trees has been welcomed by the environmentalists who have complained of declining air quality in the Capital City due to lack of greenery. As per the Air Quality Index (AQI), a score between 0 and 50 is rated good; 50-100 moderate; 100-200 unhealthy and anything around 300 hazardous. While the city had an average score of 45 between 2006 and 2014, it has been registering an average score of 70 in the last three years.
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