9,000 Karnataka schools take green turn

BANGALORE: Karnataka can boast of 9,000 ‘ environment-friendly schools’ by the end of this financial year. They will grow their own vegetables, plant medicinal plants in their school’s backyard and be high on the green awareness quotient. Being coordinated by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), state education department officials will be roped in for the project’s implementation.

“Last year, we were successful in making many schoolchildren environment-friendly. Based on that, we thought of taking up the initiative in a more organized manner this time,” said KSPCB chairman A S Sadashivaiah. The body has set aside a budget of Rs 2 lakh per district to facilitate this programme across the entire state.

Apart from training school teachers and bringing out literary works on air, water and soil pollution, competitions will be held on green initiatives, which will fetch awards and marks for the students, the chairman said.

Facilitating another green initiative, KSPCB will encourage industries to get involved in ‘ Green Nurturing’.