HMDA Creates History By Planting 450 Lakh Seedlings

The Hyderabad Metro Development Authority (HMDA) created history by planting 450 lakh seedlings under the Telanganaku Haritha Haram (TKHH) program's 2022-23 season.

It did that by spending an amount of Rs 298.09 crore.

For the 2022-23 season of TKHH, the government had given a planting & nursery target of 500 lakhs to the HMDA.

42 nurseries located in different locations have been utilized for the TKHH in 2022.

The HMDA has been continuously implementing the TKHH program, a brainchild of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and as part of that has developed a green corridor in the State.

The green corridor was developed with intensive plantation along the Outer Ring Road (158 km), interchanges (457.23 acres), service roads, railway corridors etc., with 71.15 lakh seedlings planted.

A drip irrigation has also been developed on the ORR to water the plants. The drip works on Scada software-based Automation. Compared to manual watering, the drip irrigation on the ORR saves Rs 5.09 crore per year and 6.09 lakh litres of water per day.

The State government is also developing "Urban Lung Spaces" in 16 forest blocks in an area of 14,708.24 acres located in the HMDA jurisdiction at a cost of Rs. 11.66 crore. Of the 16 reserve forest parks, six have been opened to the general public.

There are urban lung spaces being created in Hyderabad too - a total of 39 urban parks, including NTR Garden, Sanjeevaiah Park and Necklace Road, are part of the urban lung spaces in Hyderabad.

The government has also developed central median - multi-layer avenue plantations (along 672.5 km) and avenue plantations (along 269.8 km) along the national highways, State highways, R&B roads and HMDA roads under the HMDA's jurisdiction.

All these outcomes have received recognition - the State capital has received the Tree City Award given by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Arbor Day Foundation, twice - once in 2020 and once again in 2021. And the city has also topped the list of mega cities that gained maximum green cover in a decade in the country as per the report of Forest Survey of India 2021, with 48.66 sq km gained.