By SK.Vyas
Amritsar/Jalandhar, March 19, 2019: Vertical Gardening is the correct solution to Combat Air pollution said Rohit Mehra, IRS Additional Commissioner, Income Tax Dept., Ludhiana. He was here to participate as Chief Guest who was addressing the audience on the occasion of National Seminar on “Commercial Floriculture & Landscape Horticulture’. This seminar was sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forest & Climate Change, New Delhi. This event was part of celebrations of Spring Flower- cum- Plant Show organized by Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences in collaboration with the landscape department of the University. A large number of subject experts from all over India and students participated.
Mehra described in detail about the set up of the vertical garden and how it is helpful in combating the pollution problems in the urban cities where space is limited. The event Flower- cum- Plant Show organized was formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Vice- Chancellor of the university Dr. Jaspal Singh Sandhu & Prof. Shweta Shenoy. The event received participation from students of different schools, colleges & universities from in and around Punjab for competitions in Spring flowers/Plants/ Rangoli. Dr. M.S Bhatti, Head of the Department welcomes the delegates.
Dr. Satbir Singh, Former Deputy Director Horticulture, Punjab talked about the scope of protected cultivation for various crops and described in detail about the different protective cultivation techniques including playhouses, hydroponics, shade net houses etc.
Dr. Veena Chandra, Former Head, Botany Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun discussed various different landscape and plantation project initiatives of FRI.
Prof.Satwinderjeet Kaur, organizing Secretary of the seminar apprised the participants about the grant of Rs. 72 lakh received from MOEF&CC under the Assistance to Botanical Gardens Scheme wherein RET species of Punjab would be conserved in the Botanical Garden of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Dr. J.S Bilga, landscape consultant organized the Flower-cum-Plant show.
The function was graced by luminaries as Prof. A.K Thukral, Dr. P.S Bedi, coordinator of Industry linkage programme, Dr. Renu Bhardwaj, Dean Life Sciences, Dr. Saroj Arora, Dr. A.S Soodan, Dr. Rajinder Kaur and Dr. Jatinder Kaur. The function concluded with the prize distribution followed by a vote of thanks by Prof. Avinash Nagpal.