DMC adopts Japanese forest system to curb pollution
The Statesman | 17 July 2025
The Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) has come forward to set up a Miyawaki forest, based on Japanese technique to curb the growing air pollution of the industrial city in West Burdwan district.
The Miyawaki forests grow ten times faster than the monoculture forests and are denser with more biodiversity. It is suitable for small land portions in urban areas too.
Anindita Mukherjee, administrator of Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) has laid the foundation stone of the Miyawaki Technique Forest cover on two bighas of land in Shankarpur mouza in Kaliganj of Durgapur.
While Durgapur Municipal Corporation is the implementing agency of the sustainable forest project, the funds are provided under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) scheme, which is under the Union ministry of environment forests and climate control.
Anindita Mukherjee, administrator of DMC has said that the project area is 2,676 square metres of land and the cost of this project is Rs 1.38 crore.
On 27 November last year, Durgapur became the most polluted city in the country, even surpassing New Delhi. It had consistently maintained its position after that for a long period, leading to calls for the experts to curb the growing menaces of industrial air pollution in this city.
The dumping ground of the legacy waste of solid waste management department of Durgapur Municipal Corporation is located at Shankarpur. From 2 July, a private agency has started processing the solid waste of the dumping ground through machinery.
It is learnt that the new green patch will be developed near its dumping ground site in Shankarpur.
Miyawaki forests, developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, are a method for creating dense, native forests in small spaces. This technique involves planting a variety of native tree and shrub species close together, mimicking natural forest structures and accelerating growth.
The Miyawaki forest in Rann of Katch in Gujarat is the world’s largest Miyawaki forest and these forests are gradually becoming popular especially in countries like Japan, US and India.