In a move to increase the green cover of the city and the region, the Forest Department will plant 30,000 saplings in open spaces and residential areas this year.

The saplings are ready for distribution and planting and the authorities will shortly convene a meeting of all government agencies to seek an indent on how much open spaces they can cover in their respective premises.

Deputy Conservator of Forests (Territorial) Prashanth told The Hindu that they had already approached various institutions and government offices in this regard and the saplings would be planted ahead of the rainy season.

“The Model Code of Conduct was in place. Hence, the tenders could not be called. Now that the voting is over and this is a time-bound programme, we have secured permission to invite tenders so that contractors can plant the saplings at the identified places. The tendering formalities will be completed in two days,” he said.

The Forest Department has approached nearly 12 institutions with adequate open space to take up planting of saplings and they have evinced interest in it. Meanwhile, a meeting with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) will also be convened to rope them in for the greening the city programme in which public and the NGOs can also take part.

The 30,000 saplings are meant for Mysuru city alone. The Forest Department has raised another 20,000 saplings to be planted along highways and other roads here. “We have already planted saplings to cover the entire stretch of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and this is expected to provide a green cover in time,” said Mr. Prashanth.

This is apart from another 6.4 lakh saplings raised this year by the department in its various nurseries and is meant for distribution to farmers who can raise the same on their respective agricultural lands, embankments, etc.

The department will also conduct a demand survey to be prepared with requisite seedlings and saplings for public. At present, neem, hebbevu, teak, silver oak, and honge are in demand.

Mr. Prashanth said there are also plans for greening Chamundi Hills but the rocky terrain is not supportive of rich vegetation. A massive seed ball bombing was undertaken at Chamundi Hills two years ago when more than 50,000 seeds were planted under the drive. However, officials say with the rocky landscape and degraded soil, the scope for extending green cover was limited and the results of the exercise are mixed. But with soil enrichment and protection of saplings, it could be significantly increased,

C.G. Betsurmath, executive secretary, JSS Mahavidya Peetha, who was president of Clean Mysore Foundation which took the initiative and joined hands with other NGOs, said there are swathes of land where the soil provides scope for greenery and he would like to team up with the department to take up the initiative again on a massive scale.

Interested NGOs may contact the department on 0821-2483 853 during office hours.