Garland of Greenery

Afforestation Glory ORR

As part of the Telangana Ku Haritha Haram initiative, the HMDA has landscaped the 158 km stretch of the state-owned eight-lane expressway that encircles the city of Hyderabad, Nehru Outer Ring Road (ORR). Envisioned by HMDA, the initiative aims for a lush, aesthetic path to achieve perennial greenery. Aptly named “Garland of Greenery,” the massive plantation drive has rooted 1.52 lakh seedlings of ornamental plants along the ORR. With multiple rows of Avenue plantations raised on its corridors, the expressway holds shade bearing trees and topiaries for utilitarian and aesthetic purposes.

Additionally, along the Main Carriage Way (MCW) and 19 interchanges, 70,691 shrubbery and ornamental plants have been raised between the 2013-2019 plantation period. Besides this, TKHH covered avenue plantations along both the sides of service roads of ORR, including hillocks and waterlogged areas and embankment zones with recurrent soil erosion. As part of this initiative, land parcels adjoining the regions under HMDA control that have been unutilized, encroached, or being used as unauthorized parking spaces have been identified and greened. In the year 2018 itself, about 2,33,291 tall plants were planted in the ORR, including Railway Corridors, Service Roads, Rotaries, and Interchange areas. The 158 km stretch has a mix of shade-bearing trees, topiary plants, shrubs, and hedges total at 35.11 lakhs.