Urban Recreation Forestry mulls planting programme from Babughat to Brigade Parade ground

Kolkata: The Urban Recreation Forestry (URF) division will soon embark on a tree planting programme as part of a major beautification project in the city from Babughat to Brigade Parade Ground.

A senior official in the URF division that comes under the aegis of the state Forest department said the entire project has been conceived by Kolkata Police, who has taken up a Greening

Calcutta Scheme. Under this scheme, the law enforcers' theme is "2018 trees in year 2018."

A meeting has already been held with the URF division and all the nitty gritties has been discussed in detail. "We are waiting for a formal proposal from the Kolkata Police along with a map of the exact area of plantation.

The work will start soon, as monsoon is the best time for such plantation programme. It will add to the beauty and aesthetic value of Kolkata," said a senior official of

URF division.

The plantation will focus on trees with medium height that will form a dense canopy as they grow up.

The variety of trees that will be used include Bakul, Jarul, Phurush, Putranjibo etc. These trees, according to URF officials, have minimum chances of getting uprooted.

"We are deliberately avoiding those trees that grow very big as they are susceptible to fall down during a storm.

Putranjibo is a variety that is now being used by the state Forest department as it can be trimmed and given an umbrella shape that

looks very nice.

According to URF division officials, the trees will be procured from the own nurseries of the state government located at various places including Banabitan in Salt Lake, Dum Dum Road,

Jodhpur Park etc.

"We also procure from private nurseries as per requirement," the official added.

It may be mentioned that URF division is responsible for the maintenance of as many as 60 parks in the state of which 34 are located in South Bengal and 26 in North Bengal.

It has also taken up landscaping and beautification of certain areas in the city that includes Second Hooghly Bridge, Salt Lake stadium to name a few