Over 100,000 trees to be planted along Yangon-Mandalay Expressway
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Phyo/Seint San Yay (NP News) - February 20
An official from the Highway Maintenance and Supervision Board told The Statesman that more than 100,000 trees will be planted along the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway over the next few years to create a greener and more pleasant environment for road users.
It is reported that a project will be implemented to enhance the environmental beauty along the expressway, with planting scheduled to begin in the upcoming rainy season, and the project expected to take between two and three years to complete.
“The project aims to plant a total of more than 120,000 trees from Yangon to Mandalay. I don’t think we can plant them all in one year. We plan to spread the planting over two or three years. The coming season is the tree planting season, and we plan to plant a lot of trees as soon as the rains start. We will start preparing the ground and clearing the land,” the official told The Statesman.
Trees such as Spanish cherry, neem tree, lebbeck, mahua flower, tamarind, and acacia mangium will be planted along the road. Due to the road conditions, compatibility with soil and environment, and ease of maintenance, lebbeck and mahua flower will be planted more. It is also known that about 15,000 seedlings have been received from the Forest Department.
“The main trees are lebbeck, mahua flower and tamarind. The Spanish cherry are planted in the middle of the road. At the edge of the road, we will plant lebbeck, mahua flower, neem tree, and senna siamea. Right now, senna siamea is not included in the collection. We have collected Spanish cherry, lebbeck, mahua flower and tamarind. We will mainly plant lebbeck and acacia mangium in the Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw area, and mahua flower, neem tree, and tamarind in the Nay Pyi Taw-Mandalay area. Right now, we are maintaining the existing trees. These are the trees that were planted last year,” he said.
Previously, tree planting and conservation work was carried out through tenders, but currently, the Highways Department is mainly carrying out the work after receiving seedlings from the Forest Department.
Currently, only previously planted plants are being cared for. In the summer, they water the plants with bottled water to prevent them from dying, dig the soil to improve drainage, and add fertilizers to the soil if the plants are weak.
“The cost of planting and making a guard, excluding the sapling itself, is between 10,000 and 15,000 kyats. Since the trees need to be cared for throughout the year, I think maintenance cost will be about 15,000 kyats per tree per season,” he said. –