Kharadi residents turn dumpyard into ‘Nagarvan’; plant more than 900 trees
Over 200 residents of Tuscan Estate Society Phase 2 in Kharadi were living in filth as the open plot around the society’s premises was used a dumping ground.
Renuka Suryavanshi
Grappled with lack of interest of the local civic administration, the residents decided to give a makeover. The residents in united and decided to make a ‘Nagarvan’ and planted around 900 varieties of native Indian trees.
The project recently completed two years and the residents are happy that the seeds that they had sowed are now bearing fruits. The trees have become atleast 20 feet tall and some of them are bearing fruits too.
Pune Pulse spoke to the resident, Dr Umesh Bakane who spearheaded the initiative. He said, “This achievement is possible only because two hundred flat owners decided to fight out the problem together. Each one of us contributed their time, energy and money and hence we could achieve this.”
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Bakane further said, “Government of India had declared the “Nagar Van” Scheme under which 200 urban forests will be developed in urban areas. we appreciate the vision, to have 200 urban forests in country.We are happy to share that we had already started creating a Nagar Van in Kharadi, Pune in the (2019) with the contribution of residents of Tuscan Estate society. We planted 900 plants with 35 different varieties in 4 acres of land with the permission of Hon’ble Forest Minister Govt of Maharashtra Sudhir Mungantiwar. After planting them last year, our main challenge was to arrange continuous water supply.”
The residents utilised the gravitational force of water coming down from recycled water tank which is above 22 floor of the building society which gave water at full force. The force was so much that they able to use high pressure sprinkler to water the plants without electricity.
The initiative has been supported by Dr Umesh Bakane, Guruprasad Mahatme, George, Vivek Agrawal, Vivek Gupta, Ashok Agrawal, Surrender Singh Bedi, Francis Desouza, P.J.Master and Amol Kushe and many others.
