MP: Barwani collector transforms Shiv-Kunj into city forest with community involvement
Barwani is a tribal-dominated district and has been selected under the Aspirational Districts Programme of NITI Aayog, launched in 2018
Bhopal: Shiv-Kunj, an innovation of Madhya Pradesh's Barwani collector Shivraj Singh, keeping in mind the sustainable development goals (SDGs) with voluntary participation, has taken the shape of a tourist, spiritual, eco-friendly, health and wellness, and cultural destination.
Linking the Ankur Abhiyan, an awareness campaign for plantation to protect the environment, the MP government with the SDGs (a blueprint, provided by the United Nations for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future), the collector has transformed a 35-acre barren hill situated in the city into a 'city forest' with community involvement. Barwani is a tribal-dominated district and has been selected under the Aspirational Districts Programme of NITI Aayog, launched in 2018 aiming to quickly and effectively transform the 112 most-undeveloped districts across the country. Now Shiv-Kunj, a polythene-free zone, has become a retreat and an eco-friendly tourist destination, where people of the district and its outskirts enjoy amenities such as an 'urban green space', a community fitness spot, a cultural event place, children's parks, a yoga-meditation centre for spiritual wellness.
More than 30,000 fruited saplings which were planted on the hill in the 2020 monsoon session, are still alive. The spot has become a lush green forest. The noble idea has inspired the community and people have made it a mass movement and have planted another 50,000 saplings on five other city's hills too, promoting the 'carbon credit.'
MP Governor Mangubhai Patel, who visited the site, and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have lauded the innovation and appreciated the collector on several occasions. Notably, greywater water is being used for watering the plants through drip irrigation systems. Giant statues of Lord Adi Yogi and Panchmukhi Hanuman have been installed on the hill.
"Keeping in mind the SDGs and the 'Ankur Abhiyan', first of all, we ran an awareness campaign about the plantation and the environment conservation. It connected them with the district administration and people came forward for the mega plantation and contribution," the collector of Barwani told Millennium Post.
"Everything is being done with community participation," the collector added.
A group of 100 volunteers regularly maintain the hill. Around 1,000 tourists including locals visit the site every day, whereby people have been getting employment. "Covid-19 pandemic has given us a lesson to understand the importance of nature. It is an urgent need to connect ourselves with it and protect the environment," the collector further added.
