Hyderabad: As part of Haritha Haram, Kukatpally roads getting facelift

Hyderabad: As part of the 6th phase of Haritha Haram, the civic authorities in Kukatpally are experimenting with something new. While dividing the existing roads for traffic, they have come up with the idea of planting saplings in the narrow median on three different stretches, worth a total of Rs 39 lakh.

According to GHMC officials, they are developing single median at three stretches, Narsapur X road to IDPL X road with an amount of Rs 11 lakh , IDPL X road to Shapur Rythu Bazaar with an amount of Rs 11.60 lakh and Shapur to Mahadevpuram X road with an amount Rs 16.40 lakh. "We have planned to take up this on a massive scale.

We already started to plant around 1400 to 1500 plants of different species like ornamental plants, aromatic, flowering plants, medicinal plants that would help to improve the air quality on these stretches,'' said V Mamatha , Zonal Commissioner, Kukatpally Zone.

In the last couple of years, in GHMC limits the authorities have undertaken various plantation drives including avenue plantations, colony plantations, institutional plantations, open space plantations, graveyard plantations under the Telangana Haritha Haram programme, but 'single median plantations' is the first of its kind.

"As we cannot increase the space for plantation in busy roads and to increase green cover we need to utilize the available space. So we have planned to use space between the two lanes to improve the greenery so not only in the side of road and also middle of the road plantation would be available so that it would help in bringing down air pollution levels," she explained

"All the works like digging, fitting and placing of plants are being handled by the engineering wing. The work began in the second week of October and it would take more two months to complete . In this concept two more stretches are in the pipeline and very soon the work would begin," she added.