Gurugram: Increasing the green cover and ensuring a clean Gurugram were among the top issues that figured in the house meeting held by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Wednesday.
A new building policy has proposed by the municipal body, which will make it essential for all offices and residences to plant a tree that will be based on the area allocated by MCG.
Conceding that a significant portion of the city's green cover has been lost over the years, MGG officials also discussed plans to again create a green Gurugram on various public forums.
Sources in the Corporation stated that there are also plans to create another walking trail in Gurugram's forested areas on the lines of the Aravallis Biodiversity Park.
Officials also said that special provision will be permitted in terms of increase of floor area ratio (FAR) for green buildings in the city.
There are also plans for formation of a data bank to keep count of the number of trees in the city.
According to official data, while the green cover of Gurugram district is a meagre eight per cent, while that of Gurugram city is a pitiable three per cent.
This green cover also includes the forest area of Aravallis, which, according to a recent report by Wildlife Institute of India, is also receding.
Even though the Haryana Forest department had targeted enhancement of the green cover of the city to 10 per cent, and subsequently 20 percent in the coming years, it seems to be far from meeting its target.
"MCG is planning to make it mandatory for each building owner to plant at least one tree in front of it. The Corporation shall provide the trees and plans to prepare its own nursery where more than two lakh samplings shall be prepared for this purpose," said Yashpal Yadav, Commissioner, MCG.
Ironically, Delhi – which is home to 10 times the population of Gurugram – has a much higher green cover than its neighbour.
In late 1980's and mid 1990's, most of the people migrated from Delhi to Gurugram because of the vast open and green spaces in Haryana's new district.
To solve the issue of effective waste segregation, various residential societies have joined and begun to their bit to make the city clean. Many such societies have set up composting units, where waste is recycled into products that can be utilised later.
In order to encourage the societies to set up more composting units in their areas, MCG even plans to buy some of these materials.
In the past, the Corporation initiated talks with various resident welfare associations in various sectors and colonies of Gurugram to set up composting units.