Indore News: A Forest Rises Where Classrooms Stand-- Engineering College Grows Over 8K Trees In 2 Years

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Eight thousand one hundred seventy-five saplings planted 2 years ago now form a 15-foot-high forest inside the SGSITS campus in Indore.

Within a functioning engineering campus, Shri G.S. Institute of Technology & Science (SGSITS) has established a 43,000-square-foot dense forest using the Akira Miyawaki afforestation technique and will formally dedicate it to the public on February 13, 2026.

The institute planted the saplings on February 14, 2024, when they measured just 8 to 12 inches. In 2 years, the trees have recorded an average growth rate of nearly seven feet per year and achieved a survival rate of around 90 percent.

The forest now covers one acre of campus land. The institute planted the saplings on February 14, 2024, when they measured just 8 to 12 inches.

In two years, the trees have recorded an average growth rate of nearly seven feet per year and achieved a survival rate of around 90 percent. The forest now covers one acre of campus land.

SGSITS developed the forest in two segments - “Chandan Nikunj” and “Krishna Taruvan.”

The institute named them in remembrance of two individuals who played a key role in establishing the institute in 1952, linking the project to its institutional origins.

The forest includes 65 plant species, including 25 endangered and threatened varieties. The team maintains the plantation through drip irrigation and manual weeding to ensure dense, multi-layered growth under the Miyawaki model.

Prof. Neetesh Purohit, Director of SGSITS, said the initiative reflects the institute’s responsibility toward sustainability. “A green reminder that we still belong to nature,” he said.

He urged the community to engage with the initiative. “Let us do something meaningful…..let us witness a forest in the heart of the city,” Prof. Purohit added.

The institute conceptualized the project during the tenure of former director Prof. Saxena, who initiated the integration of ecological sustainability into campus infrastructure.

College media coordinator Alex Kutty and his team executed the plantation and implemented the Miyawaki technique on the ground.

SGSITS will hold the formal inauguration and public dedication ceremony on Thursday, February 13, 2026, at 10:30 am at the SGSITS campus in Indore.

The institute has invited citizens, students, academicians, environmental groups and members of the media to attend.

The institute will soon introduce an online slot-booking system to regulate public visits and enable community access to the forest within campus limits.