Parks to double up as nurseries

Parks to double up as nurseries

Parks to double up as nurseries
Prathima Nandakumar | TNN

Bangalore: Wondering what plants to grow in your terrace garden — roses or chrysanthemums, medicinal or ornamental plants? If BBMP’s Green Plan takes shape, you can just walk up to your neighbourhood park and pick the right plants for your garden. By 2008, the BBMP hopes to develop 25 ‘diffused nurseries’ in the newly added zones of Greater Bangalore.
Also, the parks will double up as local vermicompost units and centres for gardening workshops. The city’s greening plan will be implemented in 25 parks in five stages under the JN-NURM with a funding of Rs 40 crore. Later, the plan will be extended to all the 800-odd parks in the city, said BBMP commissioner S Subramanya.
The detailed project report, awaiting Centre’s approval, pushes for integrated recycling of kitchen waste and vermicomposting. “We want people to walk up to the parks and deposit their kitchen waste, which will be processed into manure. The nurseries will have a range of saplings — both medicinal and ornamental plants to promote greenery,’’ said Krishna Udapudi, a tree officer.
The department is developing a concept to replace manicured lawns with trees and a variety of plant species, as these parks help improve air quality and do not need a lot of water and maintenance like lawns and gardens. Trees will be planted in all the parks and open spaces.
“Parks will also emerge as a one-stop shop to encourage social forestry. Apart from jogging tracks, play areas and nurseries, we will also set up help points to disseminate information on the types and species of plants suitable for urban homes, terrace gardens and common plots,’’ said Udapudi. A team of horticulture experts will man the kiosks and give tips on gardening, while a separate unit will handle the kitchen waste, which is segregated at source (houses). “We can prevent useful waste from being dumped in the landfills along with hazardous material. There is a growing demand for manure and it can help us raise small funds for upkeep of parks and gardens,’’ an official said.
GREEN PARKS
Mahadevapura — AECS Layout Park, HAL Quarters Park, HAL Park, Vengaiyanakere Park, Ramamurthynagar East NGEF Park Byatarayanapura — HBR Layout Brindavan Nagar, Sahakarnagar Main Road Park, CIL Extension Police Station Road Park, Yelahanka Sector A Park, Sector B Park Dasarahalli — Gruhalaxmi Layout (2 parks) and MEI layout Bagalgunte (3 parks) Bommanahalli — Iblur Temple Park, Singasandra Park, Kodichikkanahalli, Harkeri Mico Layout, Harkeri Government School parks Rajarajeshwarinagar — Nagarbavi MPM Layout, Nagarbavi 14th Block, 9th Crs, Subramanyanagar

Flowers of all hues

Flowers of all hues
Thursday June 21 2007 09:21 IST

BANGALORE: Monsoon showers bestow plants with a fresh lease of life.

The entire landscape of the city seems to erupt in a riot of colour. At least for now the city truly lives up to its sobriquet of ‘Garden City.’

It’s also the time to add lustre to garden and home with a few common or exotic varieties.

Plenty of seasonal flowers in different hues grown and found in gardens are salvia, zinnia, marigold, annual chrysanthemum, aster, celosia, annual vervena erinoides, petunias, balsam and gaillardia.

The monsoon season stretches from June to September.

Seedlings sown from May- June onward are ready by July or August.

One of the most popular of our monsoon annual is impatiens balsamina or balsam.

The bloom comes in white, pink, rose, crimson, violet and purple. Seeds are sown any time after the monsoon showers have begun.

The plants are grown in open, sunny ambience.

For an excellent cut-flower, one can opt for Gaillardia known as blanket flower. These fine border plants have daisy-like flowers in yellow, copper and orange with bands of red or bronze.

Salvia is a good bedding and pot plant. The exciting scarlet flowers are popular for their colour, their silky texture like cockscomb capture fast the beholders’ gaze.

Salvia offers large flower clusters in yellow, red, gold, pink, orange and wine on top of green or reddish leaves.

Another favourite flower is zinnia that comes in mixed colours or in white, pink, yellow, orange, crimson and mauve colours. And for ground cover, verbena erinoides, sown from March to June, is a perfect choice that flourishes with minimum care bearing lavender or blue flowers.

Climbers Fill the home with tender climbers.

Climbers are important ornamental plants. Climber like heavenly blue also called ‘morning glory’ as it blooms in the cool of the morning, gives gorgeous flowers of sky blue hue.

This vine requires exposure to sun and covers fences and trellis or is grown as a groundcover. It looks great in hanging baskets. It is easy to grow it from seed.

Other climbers are clitoria ternatea, Black-eyed Susan, pseudo-jasmine and lavangalata. Black-eyed Susan comes in white, pale and deep yellow with and without the dark eye.

Indoor plants It can enliven your home and add aesthetic beauty to the interior ambience.

According to horticultural experts, almost all indoor plants can be grown in this season. One can grow anthurium, spathyphylum, diffenbachea, agleanema, phyladendron, maranta, begonia among others.

Vegetable and fruits For kitchen garden, one can grow plenty of vegetables.

Leafy vegetables are specially suitable in this season as it’s commonly said ‘throw seeds and it will grow like weeds’. One can also go for grafted fruit plants like mango, sapota, guava, pomegranate, jackfruit. Available at

-- If you are all set to brighten your garden, you can get seeds, saplings and grafted plants in the Nurserymen Cooperative Society Ltd at Lalbagh Botanical Garden, horticultural department at University of Agricultural Sciences and other nurseries.

DH: Light up your garden

Light up your garden
http://deccanherald.com/Content/May182007/realty200705172186.asp

With proper lighting your garden can turn into a fantasy land in the night, writes Surabhi Johri.

Treating your garden as an outdoor room is now a central concept to garden design. Your garden is a valuable extra space so why should you forget it once its dark. Night is the time when you can choose what should be seen and what should remain behind the scene.

Lighting reverses the daylight effect and extends the hours of the day for your garden.
Outdoor lighting can be more dramatic than indoor illumination. Dramatic directional lighting gives opportunities to create a fantasy scene. In addition to providing a visual panorama, lighting alters the way outdoor space is used. A combination of ornamental and functional lighting can change the feel of even the most mundane space to create a totally different experience. Creative garden lighting concentrates on subtle schemes that create atmosphere and enhance the planting, garden features, and architecture providing stimulating night-time vistas. But remember fittings come last. The aim is to create the atmosphere where fittings are invisible and as far as possible there is no glare. Suitable lighting serves many purposes. Not only does it work as a theft deterrent but it can also give you a room to entertain, read or enjoy alfresco dinning. Perhaps you would like to enjoy your beautiful specimen planting or statues or the water feature at night too, just in a different light. Even the simplest of feature in a garden when lit properly can breath a new life to the outdoors.
The creative use of light and shadow is the key to achieving good results. Excessive lighting and indiscriminate use of floodlights is the most common error that results in garish illumination and a flat perspective. To be able to design an effective lighting system for your outdoor begin by understanding the role you want lights to play in the use and enjoyment of the exterior.

Depending on your needs lighting can be of various types. Ornamental lighting mainly lights up garden features that will increase the visual appeal. Remembering what not to light is as important as remembering what to light. Amenity lighting is done to ensure safety and serve practical purposes. Task lighting makes it possible to carry out specific jobs such as cooking and barbecue. Access lighting enables safe movement around the paths and steps. Security lighting deters intruders, creates illusion of occupation and reassures homeowners. Of course there may be overlapping of functions by certain lighting.

To determine your lighting needs begin with what you want to achieve. In case of ornamental lighting a good start is to focus on what effects you want to achieve and in which areas you want to apply it. Ask do I want to see lighting only when I am in the garden or from inside too, or both, if so then from which room? Do I want a welcoming view of the house? These may seem obvious but most homeowners see lighting in a limited perspective and miss significant potentials. Ornamental lighting is more than creating drama. Its main aim is to create a balanced view that is easy on the eye.

The next step is to establish viewpoints from which these areas of the garden and the features within them may be seen. If possible keep separate controls to allow lighting up as much as needed. Now determine the need points for amenity lighting that will enable you to perform a range of functions ranging from parking your car to inserting the key in the door. Area lighting may also serve this purpose. As the name implies area lighting diffuses light all around and downwards. Here choose a fixture style to reflect the style of your house. Floodlights are not a good choice and should be left to the stadiums. If you plan to do a barbecue at night with friends then you will need some task lighting at your work counter. Access lighting mainly guides movement but can also become ornamental if placed strategically around the vegetation or other features in the path. Nowhere is good lighting more important than lighting for access and safety for the sake of the homeowner and the visitor. Safety should be assessed from two viewpoints, one of the homeowner who knows the area and other a visitor who is unknown to the obstacles in the area.

Once garden lighting is installed the window opening into the garden becomes a frame to view the illuminated garden. But it will work only if there is balance between indoor and outdoor lighting. Insufficient outdoor lighting creates a black mirror effect where you will see your own reflection and that of the room around. Therefore outdoor lighting should be brighter from interior. Perhaps choosing dimmers in interior lighting can ensure that they do not become too bright when the mood is to enjoy garden illumination. Always set lighting priorities and aim to create a balance so that light and dark are easy on the eye. Plan to accommodate personal and seasonal variations by creating flexible lighting allowed by separate controls. When choosing fixtures select attractive ones where needed and keep as unobtrusive as possible for the most. Remember it is about the light not the fixture.
Give a new light to your outdoors and enjoy the experience.

DH: Beating the summer heat - the natural way

http://deccanherald.com/Content/May182007/realty200705172185.asp

Beating the summer heat - the natural way
Electric fans and air conditioners can keep you cool using stale air at best. With innumerable power cuts, even this cannot be guaranteed. Is there someway by which natural air can circulate through your house at the height of summer? Yes says K Jayaram.

In the middle of summer the heat can be unbearable. With innumerable power cuts the little relief that ceiling fans afford while turning at high speed is denied too. Is there no way to reduce the dependence on electric fans? Or at least reduce the dependence on the electro-mechanical ventilating and cooling systems like air conditioners?
The answer is yes, provided we give the fickle minded devil - the weather it's due! During the summer months we get cool breeze essentially from the South and West. Whereas it is a little difficult to control the sun and heat entering the house from the West through the windows, it can be quite easily controlled in the South. By merely having big windows in the South, lots of cool air can be got into the house provided we also have some openings in the North or East for this air to pass out, carrying the heat to the outside. During the summer months the air pressure will be less in the North and East directions compared to the West and South. By strategically placing windows on opposite or adjacent sides of air entry, cool summer breeze can be made to pass through the house.(See figure)

Natural ventilation v/s artificial ventilation
Apart from saving energy bill, natural ventilation provides safe, fresh, cool breeze that is at the right temperature and speed. Many times it is found that the fans run too fast drying the mucous membranes of the respiratory system and cause nasal blocks and dry throats. Some people get dry coughs if they stay under fans for any length of time. Whereas ceiling fans churn in the same stale air again and again inside the room natural ventilation causes frequent air changes by bringing in the cool breeze which is fresh from outside.
Another advantage of natural ventilation is that it is not a continuous stream.
There are natural breaks when the body can adjust to the changing air temperature and humidity. It is advisable for those sensitive to sudden changes in air temperature and humidity, not to keep their beds directly in the flow of the breeze. During some seasons, there will be too much of climatic variations during the night, when they are sleeping and they may not be in a position to get up and reduce the air flow by closing some of the shutters of the windows. Too much of cold draft of air, passing over a sleeping person may cause some discomfort in the morning.
Even though in summer, the general breeze direction is from south and west,as the south-west monsoon starts in summer months, it does not set immediately. Due to local variations, cyclones and turbulence the summer breeze may be blowing from the opposite direction some time, but by and large it blows from the south and west.
Summer monsoon, incidentally is not just the three months of actual summer, but it also includes the rainy season immediately after summer. In fact in India, monsoon usually means the South-West monsoon rainy season, during which, even though it rains, the in between period can be quite warm and humid Therefore it becomes essential to provide suitable sun and rain protection devices for all openings in the south and west, other wise the benefits of cool summer breeze entering the house may be cancelled by the rain and sharp afternoon sun entering the house.
Once we provide big windows in the South and West, with suitable sun and rain protection devices, it becomes equally important for this breeze to go out carrying with it all the heat from inside the house.
Hot air can be sent out by providing smaller openings in the East and North. Smaller openings in the east and north are sufficient to draw off the breeze entering the house from the South and the West, since the breeze will be at higher pressure in these directions and naturally it will easily flow towards the East and North as these are at low pressure compared to the South and West.

Ventilation requirement of different rooms
Of all rooms, providing suitable natural ventilation for the bed room of adult couples is very important. Here the special requirement is that we have to provide the privacy along with window openings for good cross-ventilation. The adult couple lead an active life and the heat generated needs to be taken off and they naturally prefer a well ventilated cool room. This becomes more complex as we have to maintain privacy too at the same time. It is comparatively easy to cross ventilate or make the breeze flow through or cross the children's room or elderly couple's room. Children and elders may not close their bedroom doors and curtains will ensure what little privacy they need. Infact children and elders expect the adult members to be within calling distance and this is easily done in a room where the door is not closed and curtains ensure privacy.
We can beat the summer heat,the natural way provided we take care of all known physical aspects like summer breeze direction, difference in air pressure around the house and the heat gain from the direct rays of sun.

DH : Build them Green

http://deccanherald.com/Content/May182007/realty200705172178.asp

Build them green

There is much more to green buildings than mere rainwater harvesting, waste-water recycling and solar power, writes Nandhini Sundar.


Many a time there is confusion about the concept of what encompasses a green building. It is quite common to consider a building termed green to simply incorporate factors like rainwater harvesting, waste-water recycling and perhaps use solar power to supplement its energy source. Anything beyond that is neither conceptualised nor expected.
What is hence overlooked is the green concept extends way beyond these to include a gamut of issues that are addressed not just to make buildings sustainable but also its immediate local environment while extending to the global level in the long run.
Rating systems have been developed in US and Europe to judge the extent of sustainable features that a green building has incorporated. The most popular of these and one that is actively adopted in India is the LEED system (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) of the US Green Building Council based at Washington.
Under this system points are awarded to projects based on the features that they have incorporated. The maximum number of points awarded is 69. A project receiving 52-69 points is awarded the platinum rating.
The concept of sustainable buildings encompasses four main issues that need addressing. These pertain to water, waste generation and recycling, energy consumption and site ecology.
When a building comes up on a site, the ecology of the site gets disturbed. For instance, the site may be a rocky one and hence require blasting to accommodate the building. Such blasting invariably impacts the site besides harming the foundations of adjoining buildings as well as upsetting the natural habitat of the site. A sustainable building takes into account the inherent nature of the site and accordingly takes steps to preserve it.
Thus, the rocks will be removed without blasting and used in the building. The quantum of the rocky terrain disturbed too will be minimal, just enough to accommodate the building with landscaping done around the existing rocks. Proper soil and sedimentation control will be in place with the landscaping structured to take care of rain water harvesting.
The second aspect is water, the quantum of fresh water used, the volume of waste water generation and the extent of rain water harvesting put in place. The CII-Godrej Green Business Centre, which is the first green building to have achieved the coveted platinum rating under the version 2 of the LEED rating system, has zero water discharge. This means that its structure is designed in such a way that not a drop of water goes waste. Waterless urinals, collection of every drop of rainwater in the campus besides recycling of waste water are some of its unique features.
It is estimated that nearly 35% of the energy generated are consumed by commercial buildings. Says SC Kumar, Senior Advisor, CII, “By changing the orientation of the building and its design, the lighting load as well as thermal comfort can be addressed leading to very significant savings in energy consumption.” The CII has achieved 90% energy efficiency in terms of lighting load through its design and orientation.
Energy efficiency is also achieved by using appropriate materials for insulating walls and roof. According to Kumar, double glazing of glass with Argon filling keeps out noise and heat. Here, 70 to 80% of light comes in but only 20% of heat enters. Kumar however, cautions against using too much glass in the building. “The extent of glass used should not exceed 40%.”
Maximising North-oriented glazing also helps in energy savings as North orientation minimises the heat gains from windows while allowing maximum daylight into the interiors.
The CII has used the Super Efficient Chiller which uses only one-third of energy that a conventional air conditioner would consume. The energy requirement too is supplemented with solar energy thereby reducing further the actual energy drawn.
It is important to use inputs that are capable of being recycled or are themselves recycled items. This indirectly saves energy besides being more eco-friendly. Thus, items such as fly-ash, recyclable steel and aluminium, Eco-board which is compressed sugarcane husk mixed with other wood products are some of the examples of recycled and recyclable products that can be used in construction to make buildings sustainable.
Apart from the above, there are other factors such as indoor environment, efficiency of space management that add to the green concept. It is important to ensure that the level of humidity, lighting, thermal comfort is right inside the building. The quality of fresh air inside the building is again important. Volatile compounds such as those released from the chemical components of paints should be totally absent in the air. To ensure this, Kumar advocates going in for water based distemper.
Similarly, the level of carbon-dioxide in the air can significantly go up especially when there is a large gathering. Sensors need to be deployed to keep its level low. The CII has sensors to monitor carbon dioxide levels in its conference hall.
Apart from the above features, certain external factors such as location of the building, accessibility to public transport, too have a say in determining the green factor. A building fed by an efficient public transport automatically gains points as it represents use of lesser number of private vehicles by employees, thus indirectly reducing the carbon emissions.
Besides conforming to the environment, green buildings have benefits that directly affect the occupants of the buildings. For instance, it is estimated that the interior comfort factor increases individual occupant’s productivity by 6-26%. It reduces respiratory illnesses by 9-20% while the level of absenteeism is less by 15%.
While a green building is all about sustainability and addressing environmental concerns, at times what is left unaddressed in the final product is the fact that buildings, besides being sustainable are also pieces of art, their architecture needing to reflect creativity and a finesse that is worthy of preservation.
Thus, you can have a building that is totally green, fulfilling all criteria, yet looking simply as a piece of brick and mortar, brought together to house an enterprise, a function. But there is nothing about it that sets it apart as unique or as a structure that has an individual character. It is also often misinterpreted that a green building, because of its unique features cannot successfully address art.
However, it would do well to keep in mind that creativity and art do not feature on the opposite side of sustainable architecture, the presence of one eliminating the prevalence of the other. One would simply have to browse through some of the green buildings that have come up around the world, their creativity and artistic character manifesting in all its unrestricted glory, to recognise this.

The writer can be contacted at nandy6488@yahoo.com

The coolest building in town

The coolest building in town

The Hindu

Intelligent use of direction and masonry obviates the use of fans and ACs in TERI's building

BANGALORE: This institute practises what it preaches. The Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) has shown the way for buildings to be kept cool without relying on air-conditioners and fans.

Located near the Domlur bus stand, the structure has been built using simple techniques to keep off the heat transmitted through the wall and the roof. It has also devised a natural method to channel the cool air blowing from southeast to the northeast and vice versa.

The southern and western walls of the building, which face the sun during the day, have been built using a type of masonry called the rat-trap bond.

Popularised by the iconic architect Laurie Baker who died last week, this is a special arrangement of bricks that leaves air gaps between walls. The two-layered construction prevents transmission of heat from the outer to the inner wall. It also saves on the use of bricks.

Solar chimney

The southern solar chimney wall draws fresh air from the opposite direction and keeps the building cool all the time without using electricity. Hence fans and air-conditioners are hardly used in this building. The solar chimney is nothing but a big shallow wall constructed using special bricks.

The air in the chimney is heated up as the southern side of it is exposed to sun.

As hot air moves up in the chimney the northern part of the wall functions like an exhaust fan and draws the air from within the building. This keeps the building cool.

On the rooftop, TERI has opted for landscaping to keep the building's interior cool. This was done by first treating the roof to prevent leakage. Then mud was spread across the roof which is maintained wet.

TERI officials said growing plants in pots and keeping them on top of the roof could be an alternative solution to prevent heat radiating from the roof.

B'lore firm eyes top slot in rose market

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/blore-firm-eyes-top-slot-in-rose-market/33854-3.html


B'lore firm eyes top slot in rose market
Press Trust Of India


SAY IT WITH FLOWERS: A Bangalore firm is looking at acquiring a large rose farm in Africa.
Bangalore: In a bid to become the world's largest rose grower, city-based Karuturi Networks (KN) is looking at acquiring a large rose farm in Africa.

"We are looking at acquiring a large rose farm in Africa and hopefully by March we would have achieved closure on the deal. This would make us the largest rose grower in the world,” said Managing Director of KN, Ramakrishna.


Ramakrishna, who did not reveal the name the African farm, however, said that it was owned by a Dutch national.

The firm has raised USD 25 million by FCCB (Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds) issue through the UTI bank.

“Apart from this the bank (UTI) has also given us the ECB (External Commercial Borrowing) limit of $20 million,” he said.

KN, Ramakrishna said, is also keen on acquiring production facilities in Latin America, Africa and Asia and is looking at verticals like plant propogation, plant breeding, horticulture cultivation including flowers, ferns and foliage.

The firm, which has been cultivating roses for the past 13 years occupies a 15 per cent share of the domestic rose market estimated at about Rs 1,000 crore, which is expected to reach Rs 10,000 crore by 2017," he said.

Its main rose export markets are UK, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Middle East while it also exports to Brunei and Spain.

"Our top line last year was Rs 45 crore and bottom line Rs 15 crore. This year we hope to achieve a topline of Rs 100 crore and a bottom line of Rs 40 crore,” Ramakrishna said.

Karuturi Networks cultivates 65 million roses on 60 hectares of land, out of which ten hectares is on the outskirts of Bangalore while 50 hectares is on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he said.

The firm outsources flowers including carnations, Anthurium, Bird of Paradise, Liliums, Gerbera from Kodagu, Himachal Pradesh, Udhagamandalam, Kolhapur, Sholapur and Sangli (Maharashtra).

While the floriculture market in India is quite nascent, there is a lot of potential.

"Flowers are a calculated purchase in India and not an impulse buy like the western countries where it is a way of life. We are slowly moving towards that,” Ramakrishna said.

To tap the potential, the firm has pioneered a retail format 'Flower Express' where it is working on building a chain of retail florist outlets all over India and Middle East.

"Our demand driver is the young population and the middle class,” he said.


About Us | Disclaimer | Careers @ IBN | Contact Us | Feedback | Advertise With Us

© 2007, Web18 Software Services Ltd. All Rights Reserved

VT: Open air orchidarium at Lalbagh soon

Open air orchidarium at Lalbagh soon
Vijay TImes

THE number of reasons for one to visit Lalbagh Garden seems to be increasing by the day .

The latest being a special enclosure for orchids called Orchidarium, which will soon be added to the list of 18 other places of attraction within the garden.

"In another six months time, the Orchidarium will be ready . Orchid expert Anand Rao is looking into the construction of the Orchidarium, which will be spread over an acre at the centre of the island at the west side of the garden," Lalbagh Deputy Director M J agdish informed.

Bangalore is an ideal home for orchids, as they grow well in a hot and humid climate. They store a lot of energy in the form of carbohydrates during the day , when the temperature is high. This stored energy is used at night, when the temperature dips. This temperature fluctuation helps orchids to bloom.

"The estimated cost is Rs 2 lakh. Of this, we have spent Rs 1.2 lakh on the construction of the orchidarium. This is an ideal season to plant epiphytes (natural creepers) as they require humidity . W e have around 100 such plants and another 200 plants will come in a month’s time," he added.

The plants are being brought from the W estern Ghats and the Himalayas.

Light plays a key role in the growth of orchids. While direct sunlight may cause the plants to burn, light less than what is required will prevent plants from flowering.

Therefore, the authorities are making sure that orchids in the Orchidarium, which is an open air facility , get the necessary shade from the adjacent tree canopy .

Also , an artificial sprinkler has been installed in the middle of the island for a constant supply of fine water droplets to increase humidity .

The Orchidarium, authorities believe, will become one of the most preferred destinations of the garden soon.

TOI: Greener pastures for Garden City

Greener pastures for Garden City
The Greener Bangalore project of BCC and BDA will restore the city’s green spaces
The Times of India


Living up to its sobriquet 'Garden City' will be that much easier for the city with the greening initiative of Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) taking root. The Greener Bangalore joint venture encompasses the development of tree parks, mini forest areas, theme parks, avenues and boulevards, traffic islands and medians, the employment of rain water harvesting techniques towards greening of urban spaces, imparting of training in kitchen and terrace garden installation methods, and the participation of residential neighbourhoods and private enterprises in the maintenance of the greenery around.

According to Gaurav Gupta, Additional Commissioner, BCC, the project has received the green signal from the State Government which included it in the budget plan. "We have drawn up a road map for two years on a budget of Rs 46 crores and will execute the plans in stages. The project will synthesise new practices in horticulture, urban forestry and engineering aesthetics to improve the green spaces all over the city," says Gupta. Objectives
The Greener Bangalore project envisages to:

Develop existing open areas into parks and green lung spaces for the public Create tree parks, traffic islands, medians, mini forests and theme parks with exclusive horticulture themes such as a rose garden, a cacti garden, a crouton park, and so on

Demonstrate and encourage the integration of rainwater harvesting techniques to develop sustainable models of urban greenery

Encourage participation of citizens and Resident Welfare Associations in the development and maintenance of neighbourhood parks

Promote public-private partnership through corporate and institutional participation

"Over 80,000 saplings are being planted all over the city in a phased manner and 100 parks, one in each ward, have been identified for development and restoration along the lines of the bio-diversity J P Park that BCC had developed a few years ago," says Krishna Udupudi, Deputy Conservator of Forests, BCC. "Apart from developing parks, boulevards along major roads and tree-lined avenues, we will also be initiating citizens into growing terrace and kitchen gardens," he adds. "We will impart training for the right methods of growing vegetables and herbs, and plans are afoot to also distribute the right kind of saplings according to the climatic conditions".

This year, BCC’s plans will include:

Development of parks: In each of the 100 wards, under the Janodyanavana and other schemes, parks will be developed. Local residents will be encouraged to use these parks for recreation. These parks will essentially integrate garden elements such as walkways, soft landscaping, rainwater harvesting structure, and planting of
trees such as Bahuhinia, Champaka, Pongamia, Sisso, Mahogany, Neem, Ashoka, Cherry, Jacaranda etc, in clusters.

Mini forests and theme parks: To increase the green cover and to reduce the maintenance cost, mini forest
areas have been planned in various city zones. Theme parks will blend aesthetics with development of open spaces around certain plant species. These parks will be spread across 22 locations within the city.

Traffic islands, circles, boulevards: Boulevards like the one on M G Road will be developed along Airport Service Road, Lakshman Rao Road and West of Chord Road. Side walks will be improved and roots of old trees which damage sidewalks will be cut. Trees will also be planted along sidewalks.

Public participation initiative: As part of the Udyana Mithra scheme, neighbourhood parks will be maintained through the joint participation of Resident Welfare Associations and BCC.

Rainwater harvesting techniques: To collect rainwater for better use, rainwater harvesting devices will be installed in parks. This will include recharging ofborewells, surface pond water and contour bonding.