PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Oct 7: Built around the concept of urban forests, Tata Steel on Saturday dedicated first-of-its-kind Jamshedpur City Forest to the residents of Jamshedpur.
Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel along with Sanjeev Choudhary, President, Tata Workers’ Union (TWU) inaugurated the Jamshedpur City Forest at Kadma in the presence of Avneesh Gupta, Vice President (TQM and E&P), Tata Steel, Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President (Human Resource Management), Tata Steel, Shailesh Kumar Singh, Deputy President, TWU and Satish Kumar Singh, General Secretary, TWU and other senior officials from Tata Steel.
Jamshedpur City Forest is a conscious effort to reverse the trend of cities losing their green spaces due to urbanization.
The Jamshedpur City Forest is spread over 5.10 acres of land and has more than 37,000 tree plantations.
It uses the Miyawaki method of plantation, which creates native urban forest ecosystems within 15-20 years.
The forest is in line with similar large-scale interventions like the JMD park, Kadma Biodiversity Park, Jamshedpur Nature Trail, Dalma View point, CRM Bara, etc, which have helped to increase the green cover at Jamshedpur from around 35 % in 2016 to about 38 % in 2023.
Urban forests are beneficial to human well-being, support biodiversity and provide lung spaces within the city for fresh air, acting as large carbon sinks.
Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur City Forest is expected to absorb 460 tons of carbon- dioxide annually once the trees reach full maturity.
The forest also has a water holding capacity of nearly 2 million litres and a rainwater harvesting pond. Urban greening is not an option, but the most effective, cost-effective and inclusive choice to counter the effects of climate change and create a sustainable future.
