LUCKNOW, May 10 -- The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has begun developing a solar-powered 'Eco Hi-Tech Nursery' on Kursi Road in Basaha area to increase the city's green cover and promote environment-friendly urban development. The civic body plans to use the nursery to produce large numbers of high-quality plants through scientific and mechanised techniques, officials said on Saturday. Mayor Sushma Kharkwal and additional municipal commissioner Arvind Kumar Rao inspected the under-construction project on Saturday evening and directed officials to complete the work within the stipulated timeline while maintaining quality standards. Spread across nearly 1.2 hectares, the nursery will feature automated sowing systems, germination chambers with controlled temperature and humidity, polyhouses, shade-net houses and hardening chambers to ensure scientific plant production and protection. Officials said the facility would rank among U.P's most modern nurseries once completed. The civic body has planned the project around renewable energy use, making it one of Lucknow's first major green infrastructure projects to run fully on solar power. A 20-kilowatt off-grid solar power plant will operate the entire nursery, reducing dependence on conventional electricity and lowering operational costs. Officials said the nursery would grow improved varieties of flowers, vegetables and ornamental plants sourced from across the country and abroad. Residents will be able to purchase plants at affordable rates, a move that the civic body believes will encourage household gardening and increase public participation in environmental conservation. Civic officials also said the project is expected to generate local employment opportunities and support the municipal corporation's larger plan to develop more eco-friendly urban projects across the state capital....