Now, banks do their bit for a greener city

ECO-FRIENDLY STEP LMC ropes in banks to plant saplings in 3,000 parks in Lucknow as part of their CSR

LUCKNOW: In an effort to increase green cover in and around the city, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has joined hands with various public and private sector banks that will undertake plantation drives in more than 3,000 parks of the state capital as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

In its first step, Axis Bank sponsored the plantation of 500 saplings in four city parks, including the Tanki wala Park in Vikas Khand Gomti Nagar, Peepal Wala Park behind LMC zone III office in Aliganj, Dayanidhan Park and Jhandiwala Park in Lalbagh. Officials said HDFC bank had also promised to sponsor a similar drive in the days to come.

Talking to Hindustan Times, city mayor Dinesh Sharma said that there was a lot of construction work going on in various parts of the state capital in the form of beautification and road widening projects, which require tree felling to clear space. And though the forest department was trying to plant saplings on the city outskirts, most areas in the heart of the city were left out, as the forest department didn’t take up plantation unless there was space to plant at least 500 saplings. This left it to LMC to undertake plantation drives in these areas to ensure that green cover was maintained.

“Though LMC has more than 5,000 parks under their jurisdiction, most of them are not big enough to have more than 50 saplings. These small parks can accommodate only 20 to 30 saplings. However, through this step, the corporation wants to ensure that green cover is maintained and development projects don’t have an adverse effect on the environment. This year, LMC will try to plant 1 lakh trees within city limits,” the DM added.

LMC officials said the drive has been launched on the call of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to make Lucknow a green city.

Additional municipal commissioner PK Srivastava said the corporation would also be approaching NGOs, individuals and activists to pitch in with plantation efforts. “The aim is to create awareness among masses and increase public participation to improve the environmental status of Lucknow. We have already marked 1,000 parks within the city for this,” said Srivastava.

The LMC would also take requests from resident welfare societies and other organizations that want to undertake plantation of saplings in parks of their area.

The corporation has already chosen trees that are at least 5 to 7 foot-tall and three years old. Srivastava said plants that have a higher chance of survival are being planted.

“In the next step, we will plant fruit-bearing trees to attract birds and ensure that the biodiversity of the city is maintained,” he said.