NEW DELHI: To combat dust pollution and beautify the city, the Public Works Department has begun planting trees and shrubs along the 1 ,260 km of roads under its jurisdiction . Scheduled to be finished before the rainy season, the increased greenery, PWD officials hoped, would arrest the roadside soil from becoming airborne and adding to the pollutant load. At the same time, the ornamental creepers and shrubs and seasonal flowering plants, they expected, would impart natural beauty to the environs.“It is an attempt to make Delhi cleaner and greener,” a PWD official iterated. “This is just the first step and once the plants are growing on the selected stretches, we will try to ensure that every road under our jurisdiction is covered under the initiative.” According to other officials, the main purpose of the planting drive is to keep a check on dust particulate matter with the expectation that the grass and plants will cover all dry and open soil areas and prevent dust from flying into the air.Plants like Cascabela (kaner), hibiscus, bougainvillea, Livistona palm and calliandra, to name a few, will be planted. Roads in Lutyens’ Delhi, with a specific plant adorning a particular stretch, serve as an inspiration for this project. PWD has scheduled the completion of the project before the monsoons because the newly planted saplings will not lack for water then. Following that, the agency will only plant trees.PWD has set aside Rs 176 crore for the purpose, and planting has begun on 32 key stretches, including around ISBT Kashmere Gate, sections of Ring Road, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Tees Hazari Courts and Minto Road. A variety of saplings has been planted on the central verge and on the sides of the roads. Other open spaces along the roads, such as small parks, roundabouts or vacant patches, will also be beautified and marked for maintenance under the project.Besides the greening, the project also involves hardscaping, such as adding paths, repairing the road surface and installing lighting for pedestrians. All damaged footpaths on these stretches will be repaired and redeveloped, wherever required.The road beautification project is part of the Delhi government’s Green Budget initiative to combat air pollution, announced by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in March 2018. According to a senior official of PWD’s horticulture department, the footpaths and dividers were the most ignored spots on the roads. A few green patches already existed at these places, but it is only in the past five years or so that many of them have been beautified with foliage and flowering plants.“This makes the streets look beautiful and also reduces pollution in the long run," the official said. "Also, when driving on the roads with so much traffic and honking, these patches of colour and greenery can offer a little pleasant scene outside the car window.” Apart from the road greening, there are other projects proposed in which beautification is a major component.