Vertical gardens likely on 25% of Namma Metro piers

About 25% of Namma Metro piers will go green, if the BMRCL's latest move to involve private players in developing vertical gardens sees success.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited has included the green project in the tender for advertisement licence on metro piers. Bids have been invited for two stretches in Phase 1.

The bidder who gets the rights to display advertisements on 295 piers between the Srirampura and Peenya metro stations has to develop and maintain vertical gardens on 62 piers. On the stations between National College and RV Road, 161 piers are available for advertisements, and it is the responsibility of the licensee to see that 34 other piers will be green.

To make the green project financially viable, the BMRCL has also allowed the licensee to seek sponsors under corporate social responsibility funds.

Using available space in public infrastructure for vertical gardens has been in practice across the world, with leading cities adopting the model for reducing carbon concentration in urban areas. New Delhi, Surat and Gurugram have embraced the concept and have backed it with policy initiatives.

The BMRCL had experimented with the vertical garden back in 2016-17. One pier on the MG Road boulevard had a hydroponic garden, which did not survive for long. Officials, however, said they were pushing for other models which have been successful.

Metro's chief public relations officer U A Vasanth Rao said the document clarifies that climbing plants like creepers or non-climbing plants with grown in an organic method can be successful. "The idea is to have vertical gardens on 25% of all metro piers in the coming days. We hope to get a good response from private companies," he said.