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Whither Kochi’s green lung?
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What the city, with its increasing levels of pollution, needs is a green belt
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Photo: H. Vibhu
How green is my city? A glimpse of Mangalavanam
Although air pollution, its impact and control, has been discussed to the point of exhaustion it continues to be a live issue. Despite this, the role of trees and greenery as a simple and effective measure to combat this problem has few takers.
Air pollution is a real threat and millions of people in cities and industrial areas live where the polluted air causes serious health problems. Ground level ozone and air-borne particles are the two pollutants that pose the greatest risk to human health.
Carbon-di-oxide, once thought to be the product of perfect combustion, is now considered a pollution concern. Community trees play a significant role as pollution control by directly absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
What is a green belt?
A green belt is formed of greenery which envelopes an industrial area or a city or any other type of community. It can be of perennial trees or a park of flowering plants or a farm land. The trees are planted in open and close patches in multiple rows to form the green belt.
Green belt trees and their associated ground cover near water streams, rivers and lakes also serve as a sponge, reducing the flow of pollutants such as agricultural chemicals and industrial waste before they reach the water bodies.
A green belt also protects the soil from erosion. Along watercourses, roots and fallen leaves help hold the soil together and is an effective shield against the cutting forces of surface water, thus reducing soil erosion. The green belt significantly improves the habitat development and facilitates sheltering place for epiphytic plants, insects, birds and other organisms.
The green belt has main uses like reforestation, land regeneration and recreation. The plants suited for green belt development should be self-rejuvenating and fast growing species with thick canopy cover and evergreen foliage.
Indigenous perennial trees of some economic value like fruit trees, timber yielding, and flowering trees are more preferred for this purpose. The tree should be efficient in absorbing pollutants without significant effect on plant growth.
Kochi’s green belt
Recent studies reveal that more than 80 per cent of the urban area of Kochi is occupied by concrete or other kinds of buildings and in what is left over, new construction works are in progress. The alarming increase in the air pollution in the city premises and the lack of breathing-space with greenery and plant growth in intensively commercial areas of Kochi is a clear indication of the need of the hour.
‘Greening’ the city and bringing up of green belts around the premises of the newly emerging flats, other residential complexes and public places remain the only panacea for this grave situation. With the exception of a few, the construction companies who build flats, residential complexes, swanky malls and hotels are not keen to leave open space for plant growth or even to retain the trees already present in the site.
‘Mangalavanam’ – the ‘green lung’ of the Kochi city with its unique swamp vegetation of trees and a night shelter and breeding place for native and migratory birds is gradually diminishing with encroachments from both government and private enterprises, alike.
There are exceptions, however. The H.M.T at Kalamassery in Kochi is a striking example for a factory with luxuriant greenery. A ride on the road along the factory side gives the cooling effect and the freshness that the trees alone can really provide.
The proposal to bring up a green belt surrounding the solid waste management plant under construction at Bhramapuram by the Kochi Corporation is a bold step by the authorities to tackle the environmental issues. Once this plan materializes as a reality, it will be a great boon for the people and nature.
The Centre for Heritage and Environment Agency of the Kochi Corporation has to be revamped and must become a nodal agency to offer necessary guidance to the civic authorities in this regard.
With a limited city area – 87. 341 sq. kms – Kochi, already degraded by industrial waste, raw sewage and trash needs to be urgently reclaimed by planting of trees.
The Delhi ridge, part of the capital’s heritage and an icon of greenery is an effective environmental model for the entire country. Green belt becomes an oxygen parlour of that area where people can spend their leisure and also a night shelter for birds and small animals.
It also stresses the importance of preserving trees for ecological stability. Environmental consciousness, a felt need in the altered living styles, especially in the urban centres, is taken to a new level, with the establishment and preservation of green belt and green shield in the ecologically fragile spots.
JACOB VARGHESE
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