Take a green break at this post office in Karnataka!

GADAG: Which is one of the most favoured picnic spots in Nargund town? Though hard to believe, it is the post office, whose premises have been turned into a lush green, mini-forest. All this is because of the interest and effort of one postal staffer, Maritimmappa Karigar, who transformed the space when he was posted here in 2017.

When he first visited his workplace, its premises were covered in bushes and thorns. He sought the permission of his superior and Gadag Postal Superintendent K Basavaraju to clean the place and plant trees. Once the green signal came, he went about planting saplings of several species, and today, those plants have grown, and the post office has turned into a mini-forest.

The staff from the postal department and social forestry division of the forest department helped him with saplings, but most of the time, Karigar spent from his pocket to buy the saplings. However, his colleagues crowd-funded to build a pond.

Karigar, who hails from Asundi of Gadag district, has taken part in many awareness camps as he knows his plants very well. Karigar, who is posted at Koppal now, says he learnt which trees have more oxygen and how to make a mini-forest from the elders in his village and guides. Residents from nearby areas visit the post office instead of parks or gardens, for their morning and evening walks.