Centre asks States to follow guidelines on greening

  • 02/10/2013

  • Hindu (New Delhi)

“At least 2.5 per cent of the cost of any development project should be earmarked for landscaping and green development” Flooded roads after even light showers, uprooted trees, littered pathways and dug-up pavements, dumping yards in unused spaces – a familiar scene in most cities – has caught the attention of the Union Urban Development Ministry. The Ministry has now asked all States to comply with its guidelines on greening and landscaping of urban areas. In a letter to the Chief Secretaries of all States, the Ministry has asked for earmarking a portion of the cost of all development projects for landscaping. “In any layout plan of land and housing development, at least 2.5 per cent of the cost of the project should be earmarked for landscaping and green development,” the Ministry has said. The Ministry has stressed on best practices like rainwater harvesting and recharge of water bodies to ensure flood proofing of cities. To protect heritage buildings and to enhance the aesthetics of their immediate environs, the Ministry has suggested landscaping of all heritage structures. Empty spaces that are used as dumping grounds often becoming a health and security hazard have also been targeted. The Ministry wants States and urban local bodies to ensure such spaces are better utilised and used for greening purposes. “Urban void areas should not be allowed to exist and the area not required for immediate development or construction, should be made green, fenced with suitable landscaping. Similarly, road and right of way required for future road widening should be landscaped and maintained as green…” the Ministry has directed. The guidelines also prohibit tiling and concrete pavements or digging to lay telephone and electricity lines and sewage pipelines around trees among a host of other do’s and don’ts. For ensuring that tress and greens are given adequate space to grow, urban local bodies have been asked to take steps like avoiding use of indiscriminate tiling of road dividers and footpaths and to plant shrubs and trees that are known for “pollution reduction abilities and dust trapping”. To bring down casualties on account of uprooted trees, the Ministry has suggested widening of roads up to the tree trunks to be avoided as asphalt causes the roots to die, making the trees prone to uprooting. It has also asked for setting up of a central resource centre to aid and advise the State authorities and urban local bodies on horticulture issues, updating the technology for tree plantation and setting up of tree disease surgery units in the horticulture departments. The MoUD reminder to the States comes in the wake of notices issued to it by the National Green Tribunal following the filing of a petition by Ghaziabad-based environmental activist Akash Vashishtha.