Sahid Smriti Van Surat's lungs

Residents in and around the Railway Protection Force (RPF) colony in the industrial area of Udhana, Surat are inhaling cleaner air as compared to their counterparts living in other localities.

- Melvyn Thomas

Thanks to the urban forest named *Sahid Smriti Van, developed by industrialist Viral Desai, who is also known as Green Man of Surat, a three-and-a-halfmonth long study on the ambient air quality by a researcher from the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) revealed that urban forest has significantly reduced toxic substances such as PMIO and PM 2.5 in the air.