TS to develop tree parks in 141 Urban Local Bodies, says KTR

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday said that the state government has decided to develop an exclusive tree park in each of the 141 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), including Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

He held a video conference with elected representatives, municipal commissioners and additional district collectors to review preparations for the sixth phase of ‘Telangana Ku Haritha Haram’ programme scheduled to be launched on June 20. While appealing to the public representatives to participate in the programme, the Minister said that 10 per cent of the municipal budget has to be utilised as a ‘Harita’ budget according to the new municipality Act. He asked officials to spend the allocated budget to increase green cover in the cities.

Rama Rao reiterated that Municipal Chairpersons would be responsible for upkeep of each one of the plants in their respective municipalities and also insisted that at least 85 per cent of the saplings should be protected.

While giving a call for a “Green Friday” to increase and protect green cover in the municipalities, he instructed officials to plant trees in open spaces in the city and also asked them to come up with a plan to set up tree parks in each municipality. Asking the Municipal authorities to plant trees in the already identified 90 forest blocks, he suggested planting mosquito repellent trees.

KTR instructed officials to ensure that a special officer is appointed in each Municipal Directorate Office to constantly review the Haritha Haram programme.

Maintaining that every month the government is directly giving Finance Commission funds to municipalities, he said that `148 crore, are allocated every month to all the municipalities and corporations including GHMC. These funds, he said, could be used to take up sanitation and other essential activities in municipalities.