A small, 1000 sq ft, area inside the Anna Institute of Management will soon be a green space filled with medicinal plants and trees.
It is a Miyawaki Forest – a small area with a dense growth of plants, planned especially in urban areas to promote green cover. The unique feature of this particular one is that it will be filled with indigenous plants.
This is a project undertaken by the Rotary Club of Madras Central, whose leader is Supriya Sundararaman.
The Club started planning and working on this project 3-4 months ago, says Supriya. The idea of designing green spaces inside the city came from her too, when she saw something similar on her travels.
The Club roped in NGO called Thuvakkam to help it in this endeavour. Thuvakkam helped them pick the right plants, sourced them, planted them, and will also maintain them for up to two years, after which the forest will be self-sustaining.
A project of this scale is budgeted at Rs 50,000 and the Club has sponsors who contributed to the effort. They are already thinking of developing similar spaces in other parts of the city and will plan fund-raising efforts for them soon, says Supriya.
This Miyawaki Forest is located off Greenways Road in R. A. Puram and is open to the public. I
Interested in considering this idea? Reach Krishna Kumar of Thuvakkam for details – 94443 33624.
