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Santhosh Chandran
Doha
THE Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has successfully completed the second phase expansion of the manmade forest in Umm Salal, this year,making it greener and more environmentally vibrant.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event recently, an official of Ashghal said the second phase of plantation which was scheduled for second quarter of 2017 has been successfully completed in April and currently the zone has over 95,000 trees of different varieties.
Ashghal is in the process of growing additional 55,000 trees in the forest, which is in the buffer zone surrounding the Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant, 25 kilometres north of the capital.
The Public Works Authority had planted 40,000 trees in the forest in the project's first phase, according to Ashghal News magazine.
With the completion of the landscaping, the desert region surrounding the sewage plant will be transformed into a complete forest with 50 picnic spots and a bird-watching lagoon. Tree species which do not use much water for survival have been carefully selected for the project. There will be a mixture of local and decorative varieties which can withstand the desert climate.
Various species of flowering trees will be planted on the sides of the roads leading to the plant, the magazine states.
"After the construction of roads to the plant and with the trees reaching the required size, possibility of opening the forest area to the public will be studied. Once open, visitors will be able to relish the scenic view of the artificial lake in the forest while listening to the chattering and chirping of birds," the Ashghal official added.
In the next 10 years, Ashghal will spend an estimated QR1.14 billion to preserve the forest, and a total of QR1.1 billion has been reportedly earmarked for the plantation project, according to the magazine.
The Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant is considered as one of the strategic projects in the country aiming to produce high-quality treated effluent for irrigation of plants at public parks and landscapes. This will help the country bring down dependency on drinking water for irrigation.
The state-of-the-art QR3.63-billion plant has a capacity to treat 244,000 cubic metres of waste water per day, which is expected to serve a population of 900,000 by 2020. At present, the plant utilises only 20 percent of its total capacity and provides 55,000 cubic metres of treated water for irrigation in the West Bay area.
