Mangaluru : Mangaluru, on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, took the first stride towards having the first of the 50 proposed Miyawaki urban forests with saplings being planted on a small piece of land near the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat office premises at Urvastore here.

To come up on a five-cent triangular-shaped land at the entrance of the zilla panchayat premises, the proposed urban forest is the result of sustained efforts by Mangaluru Ramakrishna Mission, the zilla panchayat and the Forest Department. While ZP CEO R. Selvamani obtained clearance from the concerned to raise the forest, the Mission procured one hundred saplings of 40 different tree varieties.