To increase the city's green cover, the BMC is developing urban forests at various locations in Mumbai using the Japanese Miyawaki technique. As part of the project under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the civic body will be planting 10,264 trees on 2,500 sq metres of area in Sharad Narayan Acharya garden at Mysore colony in Chembur (East).
The tree plantation program started on Monday in the presence of additional municipal commissioner (eastern suburb) Ashwini Bhide, deputy commissioner Kishore Gandhi and other civic officials. Around 64 mini-forests have already been developed under the Urban Forest project launched by the BMC on January 26, 2020. As per civic officials, more than four lakh plants, including indigenous varieties such as Anjan, Bel, Amala, Gunj, Arjun and Sonchafa, have been planted till now.
Miyawaki, the innovative Japanese technique for plantations, has been encouraged for the past 3-4 years. For this, more and more trees are planted in smaller spaces so that they grow vertically rather than horizontally. It also ensures enriching open spaces faster than usual. The Miyawaki method was pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the 1980s.
The BMC have made Miyawaki plantations mandatory for construction areas of over 10,000 sq metres since January 2023. Accordingly, the Building Proposal Department has included the condition in Intimation for Disapproval (IOD) whereby the permission for construction can be revoked in case of violation of rules.
