Green Drive at Calcutta Riverside

This uniquely designed project is all set to become the largest ever tree transplantation project in the country, claimed the company.

CRS initiates the Green Drive at a time when the city is braving the destructive aftermath of the cyclone Aila and has lost most of its green life due to the same. In the ongoing World Environment Week CRS undertakes a conscious effort to save each and every tree in the property for environmental reasons.

The Calcutta Riverside project a 262 acre integrated township in joint venture with Bata India Limited, by the Hoogly River, has more than 2000 existing trees throughout the property and a conscious effort has been made by the Group to save each and every tree for environmental reasons.

'This would be the largest and most expensive tree transplantation projects in the country and the best way to celebrate the ongoing World Environment Week,' said Sumit Dabriwal, Managing Director, Riverbank Developers Pvt. Ltd.

The Calcutta Riverside project has more than 2000 existing trees which are more than 50 years old. These trees in fact have guided the way in which the buildings and roads in the township would be designed.

'A unique feature in the transplantation process is that the cost for transplanting a fully grown tree is around Rs.10000-Rs.15000, whereas a new sapling of the same species can be obtained for a much lesser amount but the high ecological value would be missing,' said Dabriwal.

He further explained that this exercise includes steps like detailed survey, trimming(carried out to maintain the balance and shape of the tree), taking care of orientations(maintaining the same orientation of the tree in its new transplanted location), trenching (the trunk and the roots are covered with jute bags to prevent damage and infection.), undercutting(this is done for the secondary roots while primary roots are not hurt), preparation of tree pit at the proposed location for transplantation (to ensure that the character of the soil in the transit nursery is as similar as possible to the soil the tree has been growing in) and after care(irrigation and pesticides were given at regular intervals as specified by the transplantation advisor).

'A conscious effort has been made by the design team to save each and every tree and then decide the pathway of the township. Of the few trees that have been affected, an extensive tree transplantation exercise was carried, and probably this would be one of the biggest tree transplantation projects in the country. ' said Dabriwal.

'After a detailed study of the characteristics of around 2000 trees (factors like age & health of the tree) a decision was taken whether to transplant the tree or to retain it. It has been a lengthy process but we really felt the worth of the whole procedure when each and every transplanted tree remained unaffected by the Aila storm' said Barpande, a renowned horticulturalist from Pune who has been appointed to oversee the entire tree transplantation procedure.

The United Credit Belani Group (UCBG) is a business group based in Kolkata dealing in Real Estate.