From Our Special Correspondent
Experts from different fields today agreed that instead of a piecemeal approach to tackle the worst ever air pollution in urban centres like Delhi, the novel concept of “Carbon Garden” of the Delhi University’s self-sustaining ecological defences should be an ideal solution.
The University’s Carbon Garden represents a quiet shift in how cities might confront environmental stress, the experts from different fields said in a day long “National Conference on Carbon Garden: An urban ecosystem service model to combat Toxic Air” in the campus. Instead of treating pollution only after it spreads, this approach builds self-sustaining ecological defences directly into urban spaces, they said.
Prof Dinabandhu Sahoo, Head of the Botany Department of the varsity who introduced Cherry Blossom festival in Shillong 2016, had launched India’s first Carbon Garden this year in a 2,000-square-foot facility designed to combat air pollution by sequestering and reducing toxic gases.
This “living lung” uses native plants and microorganisms on tree bark to improve air/soil quality. The carbon garden is not merely ornamental, but a functional ecosystem featuring a curated mix of native plants, including hydrophytes, xerophytes, and mesophytes.
The garden focuses on removing harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, along with carbon monoxide from the atmosphere.
Inaugurating the conference, Dr Sahoo said if small carbon gardens are created in every school, colleges, universities, residential and Office complex, it will significantly improve air and soil quality as well as mental health.
It can give freedom from toxic air, enhance the quality of Life, and reduce our medical express said Sahoo, he said.
Ms Shweta Thakur Nanda, of Morning Sprout Consulting Ltd in her speech said that rising air pollution is one of the most important threats to human health in recent years.
Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO) she said every year more than 70 lakhs people die due to air pollution across the world including 17 lakhs in India.
Based on the World Air Quality report by IQAir 2025, 13 of the world’s top 20 polluted cities are from India and air pollution is responsible for nearly 15 percent of all deaths in Delhi alone. Further, it was estimated that death attributable to air pollution accounted for economic losses of $36·8 billion in India every year.
Experts from different parts of the country gathered and discussed the establishment of carbon gardens across the big cities as one of the nature-based solutions for combating air pollution during the conference.
Other experts included Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Vice President, Nature Care Initiative, Prof. Chirashree Ghose, Department of Environmental Studies, DU, Dr. R. B. Srivastava, Former Director, DIHAR, DRDO, Leh, Dr. Nabajyoti Deka, of DU.
The conference was organised by Nature Care Initiative, Delhi University Botanical Society (DUBS), Indian Phycological Society focusing on the environment recently.
The Carbon Garden at the University of Delhi (DU) is India’s first scientific “living lab” designed to combat urban air and soil pollution.
Unlike traditional ornamental gardens that focus on seasonal flowers, this garden is a high-performance biological engine engineered for year-round environmental impact.
It spans just 2,000 square feet, making it a scalable model for schools, residential areas, and office complexes. It houses over 45-50 species of plants, including native medicinal trees (Amaltas, Gulmohar), air-filtering Snake Plants, and the Kandamba tree.
It integrates a layered community of algae, fungi, bacteria, mosses, and ferns..
