Darjeeling: After the immense success of a pilot tree plantation programme in Shyampur, Howrah, the Bengal government is all set to replicate the model in North Bengal too. Radhabari in the Fulbari area in the Jalpaiguri district bordering Siliguri has been earmarked for the project whereby government vest land will be converted into a man-made forest using the Miyawaki technique. Miyawaki is a technique that seeks to accelerate the process of ecological healing by imitating as much as possible the normal composition of the primary forest in each context. Using this technique more trees can be planted on a smaller patch of land. A strip of land measuring 27 bighas has been earmarked for this project. The vest land is located between the Jorapani river and the Teesta irrigation canal in Radhabari. The vest land was vulnerable to encroachment hence through this project the government plans to reap a two-prong benefit — protection of the land as well as increasing the green cover. Tourism minister Gautam Deb stated: "While deforestation has become a curse in this modern-day world we are sincerely working towards increasing the green cover. Not only that this man-made forest will emerge as a major tourist attraction in North Bengal." There will be special areas earmarked for different flowering trees in the forest including Palash, Mahua and Krishnachuda. Along with this Sishu, Segun, Sal, Mango, Cashew, Neem, Wood apple trees will also find a place in the forest. The Social Forestry department will provide saplings. The work will be undertaken by the Parks and Gardens department aided by the Tourism department. The boundary wall for the forest will be constructed by the tourism department. Work will be supervised by Fulbaris two Gram Panchayats. "The State Government is planning to build such forest patches in urban areas and cities to purify and replenish the air thereby cutting down on pollution," added Deb.

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