Religious Tree Park, to come up in all districts

In the next five years 30 districts in the State is going to shine with ‘Daivi Vana.’
This is going to be modelled on the lines of the hills surrounding Tirupati-Tirumala where there is a thick forest cover.

The forest department has decided to choose a prominent religious centre in each of the districts and set up ‘Daivi Vanas,’ (Religious Tree Park). All arrangements have been made to implement this scheme.

The additional chief conservator of forests (Forest Resources Conservation) has in a letter written on March 18 to all the districts’ deputy conservator of forests said that they should make a comprehensive plan for three years and submit it to the department.

Forest minister C H Vijayashanker had in a meeting on March 10 asked the DCFs to sumbit a detailed comphrensive report within two weeks about the proper places to set up Religious Tree Parks.

Accordingly a meeting and workshop will be held on the comphrensive plan in Bangalore next week, said the department sources to Deccan Herald.

Plan from this month

The work on the implementation of Religious Tree Parks will begin from this month itself.  As the Ministry of Environment and Forest has provided land for the parks in the respective districts, the department has decided to plant crores of saplings from this rainy season itself.

RTP scheme

The main aim of the scheme is to set up Religious Tree Park in 300 hectare (750 acre) limits.

In this five year scheme, in every region, every year saplings will be planted every year in 100 hectares for three years and they will be nurtured.

For two years programmes will be chalked out for forest conservation. In 100 hectares (250 acres), RTP will be developed at a cost of Rs 1,06 crore in each district. The department is geared up to distribute Rs 31.08 crore  in 2011-12.

To implement the total scheme in five years (first year Rs 32 crore, second year Rs 38 crore, third year Rs 45 crore, fourth and fifth year Rs 10 crore each) Rs 135 crore will be spent.

In this religious tree park, religious medicines and other rare species of plants, fruits, flowers, honey and other minor forest produce saplings will be planted and developed.
There are plans to sell these plants to the public. The religious tree parks will be selected near the religious places where devotees visit in large numbers.

The tree parks will be developed in such a way that the children can acquire knowledge by visiting these places.

“In Tirupati about 20 years ago, there was no proper forest cover. Due to the efforts of the forest department there, it is now not only a popular religious destination but also for environment tourism. It is the department’s aim to set up such parks in each and every district. In Kolar Antarganga forest region will be set up as religious tree park,” said a forest official.