Scion of the erstwhile royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar called for reviving greenery through action at micro levels across the communities.
He was speaking at a programme to mark the release of tree census conducted on a pilot basis in Ward Number 48 by Projet Vruksha Foundation, here on Sunday.
Mr. Yaduveer recalled how the maharajas of Mysuru had planned the city and ensured tree plantation on both the sides of the road to provide shade besides shore up green cover. Similarly the drive from Bengaluru to Mysuru was known for trees on both the sides of the road all of which have disappeared due to urbanisation and road widening projects. Yet, it was necessary to revive greenery and tree cover as part of environmental service.
‘’In the present times, it is the praja which is the raja and hence, people should act at micro level and take up conservation projects as their initiative so that it also gets reflected at the macro and policy levels,’’ said Mr. Yaduveer. ‘’Make efforts to know the trees in your localities and be aware of the rich biodiversity around you,’’ he added.
The negative impact of climate change is visible and people are experiencing it. Mysuru and surrounding areas witnessed unprecedented rains during summer, something which was never heard of in the past. In earlier times, there used to be mango showers for a few minutes and all this indicates how environmental devastation has affected the climate, said Mr. Yaduveer.
Tree census results (B/CAPS)
Expressing his happiness over the tree census conducted for Ward Number 48, Mr.Yaduveer said it should be expanded to cover all the wards in the city corporation limits.
Mr. Vijay Nishanth of Project Vruksha Foundation said the census exercise was a voluntary effort involving activists from Mysuru. It took nearly an year for the completion of the exercise and results indicate that there are 3146 trees across Ward Number 48 covering Kuvempunagar. In addition, there are 319 saplings which were under various stages of growth.
As per the census at least 57 species of trees were recorded including Ashoka, banyan, African tulip, Areca palm, banni, Champaca, coconut, coral jasmine, gulmohar, jacaranda, jamun, jackfruit, Indian goose berry, mango, peepal, silver oak, Singapore cherry to name a few. The initiative — when expanded to the entire city — is expected to help generate baseline data of trees and tree density.
