Indore college grows `Miyawaki forest' in the middle of densely populated area

A local engineering college has developed a dense urban forest by employing the famous Miyawaki technique on one acre of land on its campus in a congested area of the city. The saplings were watered using drip irrigation, and only organic manure was used, he said, adding that this oasis of foliage would provide pure oxygen to the people living in the densely populated area around the campus.

A local engineering college has developed a dense urban forest by employing the famous Miyawaki technique on one acre of land on its campus in a congested area of the city. Real estate experts estimate the market value of one acre of land on Race Course Road, among the city's most upmarket areas, to be around Rs 100 crore. But the Shri G S Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS), a government-aided autonomous institute, chose to create a forest on it. The forest with two sections -- 'Krishna Taruvan' and 'Chandan Nikunj' -- was inaugurated on Friday. ''We planted more than 8,000 saplings of 65 species, including 25 endangered ones, on one acre of our 30-acre campus two years ago,'' college director Neetesh Purohit told PTI. The Miyawaki technique was developed in the 1970s by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. It enables development of dense and biodiversity-rich forests in urban areas in a short period of time. About 90 per cent of the saplings survived with many having grown into 15 to 20 feet tall trees, said Purohit. The saplings were watered using drip irrigation, and only organic manure was used, he said, adding that this oasis of foliage would provide pure oxygen to the people living in the densely populated area around the campus. In keeping with the Miyawaki method, four saplings of different species each were planted in 24x27-inch plots, said college officials. The project cost was around Rs 20 lakh, while the annual maintenance expenses are about Rs 3 lakh. HDFC Bank provided Rs 17 lakh to SGSITS for the project under Corporate Social Responsibility funding.

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