Environment

By Raj Kumar Parajuli

The Dhulikhel Municipality has launched an afforestation campaign.

One among the 15 municipalities across the world with zero carbon emission, Dhulikhel Municipality has started the campaign of planting 100,000 saplings to create a basis and structure for further contributing to reducing carbon emission. 

Under the afforestation campaign, the Municipality has planted 15,000 fruit saplings in the first phase in its three wards – ward no 2, 3 and 11. It is said the plants would be monitored and conserved using the GPS technology. 

"GPS has been installed in all the newly-planted saplings. The plants would be monitored by means of this," said Ashok Byanju, the Municipality's mayor.

He said the use of GPS technology in conserving the saplings planted under the afforestation campaign is the first time in Kavrepalanchok district and in the municipality.

According to Byanju, all the saplings have been given a number and connected to the GPS.

The growth progress of the saplings would be monitored through GPS and if any issue arises in the growth of plants the system would immediately notify about the same.

The municipality's department concerned can then immediately intervene in such situation.

Mayor Byanju said along with the afforestation, the Municipality has adopted the policy of establishing only the industries emitting zero carbon, making the infrastructure construction environmentally-friendly and of increasing the forested area in the municipality to 40 percent of the total area by protecting the local forests. 

He claimed that the Dhulikhel Municipality is the first municipality in the country to formulate and implement environmental-friendly Act and in line with this the Municipality has been made a municipality with 'zero carbon emission.

Similarly, the Municipality has been processing 61 percent of its sewage water before releasing it into streams and it has started a project for treating the fecal waste and producing gas and fertilizer from it.

Mayor Byanju said the Municipality has started constructing a garden at the local Tundikhel Park where different varieties of rose found in the world would be grown.

According to experts, as many as 20,000 fully-grown trees help reduce 8,000 tonnes of carbon. Based on this premise, Dhulikhel would contribute to reducing 40 thousand tonnes carbon once the 100 thousand saplings planted for this purpose are fully grown.  

The afforestation campaign will be gradually expanded in all 12 wards of the municipality.

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