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At Home With Green Cover, Gurgaon Residents On Planting SpreeBy rachit, Section GN
A green revolution is silently sweeping through the millennium city. Lost in a concrete jungle of steel and glass, residents are slowly reclaiming the green space in their courtyards, rooftops, window sills, balconies and even kitchens.
This was not so even a few years back. With the idea of vertical living taking root in Gurgaon, the city was fast losing its tree cover to apartment blocks and residential plots even though private developers and the Haryana government had sold the millennium dream as a ``clean and green'' city. The widening of the National Highway-8 further ate into the green space. But so far, both the state government and developers have shown scant interest in going for plantation drives to make up for the loss. ``All norms of leaving enough space for greenery had been violated. Though, we can't say that development activity should stop, we certainly feel the government and private developers should find a way out to compensate for the green cover lost,'' said an official of the state forest department. Peeved by the lackadaisical attitude of the government and developers, the residents started looking up other alternatives to bring the green closer home. They begun planting saplings in their plots and keeping potted plants in their homes. The Asthana family, for example, decided to go for a garden instead of building two more rooms in their plot. Says Dr Kishore Asthana, an IIMAhmedabad alumni, ``Plants are important for maintaining the ecological balance. And it takes a lot of effort and determination to plant saplings in your plot where you could have constructed two more rooms. But the increasing awareness among people is visible now. Everyone is making an effort to bring greenery close to their lives.'' Walk into any flat or courtyard of a house here, and you would know what he means. That people now have more disposable income at hand has also helped in the greening process, besides the planned development of residential sectors, say experts. (Click on "Full Story" for more.)
Even people who can't afford the luxury of space, are opting for indoor gardens. As Bhawani Shankar of Sector-23 says: ``If we look at the trend in the past few years, it's happening everywhere. Despite space constraint, even those living in small flats are keeping potted plants for a fresh environment.'' And keeping plants at home has a definite cooling effect in this heat. ``The city is slowly going barren and is heating up faster. It's even hotter than Delhi. You will feel the difference that plants make when you enter a home filled with saplings. It's much cooler inside,'' says R S Sahni of DLF phase -I.
``We have been consciously keeping our house green ever since we moved in. Having so many plants around you, gives a sense of peace. It's expensive to maintain plants at home, but this definitely improves the quality life,'' says Rita Kapoor of DLF phase-II. This ``quality of life'' is something that the developers and HUDA had promised the buyers who moved from Delhi to Gurgaon in the past decade, but failed to provide. As Dr A M Berry of Gangaram Hospital who lives in DLF phase-II says: ``The developers and authorities should take more initiative to make residential areas look greener. That's what we hoped for when we shifted from Delhi to Gurgaon.'' The regional director of Haryana Pollution Control Board, Dr C V Singh, admits that green homes have played an important role in reducing air pollution in Gurgaon. ``The improvement in air quality is quite visible in the city. Even industries have done a credible job by going green,'' Singh says. But maintaining an indoor garden is not an easy task. First of all, you have to choose plants with care. ``You have to have shade-loving plants at home. Big and flowering plants need plenty of sunlight. However, as architects designing these houses have taken into consideration the vaastu principles, residents have greater option of putting more plants inside. This is not so in case of Delhi,'' said Sakil, the owner of a nursery. Residents feel the civic authorities should not fell trees unnecessarily in the HUDA sectors. ``They must avoid planting saplings in front of a gate. Also, we need enough water supply to maintain the greenery,'' said Tripathy. (Source-Times Of India, 23/04/07)
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