A park in Surya City, being maintained by the local Government was lying in a neglected state and of no use for the residents of the area. Vrikshamitra Foundation, got permission from the concerned authorities and restored the park. It has now been planted with beneficial ayurvedic plants and converted to an area that is full of children and adults to play and exercise in.
The villages of Karnataka have a unique concept of social forests known as “Gunduthopus.” These are common areas created with native trees and shrubs that benefit the rural community who are free to use the leaves, flowers and fruits, and when in exigent circumstances, firewood. They also give areas for birds and animals to create their homes.
But the rapid urbanisation here has led to the areas being cleared and used for illegal residential projects. Those that aren’t have lost their trees and been converted to areas filled with unwanted plants.
We were able to find a gunduthopu in Kachanayakanahalli that just had one remaining tree and was filled with parthenium. A temple had been built here but the conditions in the area were unsuitable for people to assemble for occasions of prayer. We created a plan to plant 5500 native trees in the area and were funded for this by KPMG. The project was implemented as a 3-year plan, and the outcome can be seen in the before-and-after photographs attached below.
A once beautiful Hennagara lake is now covered with water hyacinth over 250 acres of its area for 9-10 months in a year. This has made it almost impossible for fishing in the lake as the weed causes a rapid fall in the dissolved oxygen levels of the lake water and makes it almost impossible for the fishing boat to move. We have secured permission to remove the water hyacinth weed from the lake and in collaboration with the fisherman have cleared over 100 acres of the lake last year.
