Four Biodiversity Parks Get Green Signal in Delhi

Delhites have been gifted with a precious gift on the world environment day this year (2009) – and the gift is 4 biodiversity parks in the city. At the time when Delhi is experiencing extreme heat and the green cover of the city is battling infrastructure expansion, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) brought a big smile on the face of the Delhites by announcing that they are planning to setup four biodiversity parks in the city. It is no doubt a cooling relief to all the citizens. Earlier Delhi was always known for its greenery but now a days because of the too much of concretization the city is loosing its green property. Thus this decision of DDA will give Delhi more green lungs. The main aim behind this proposal is to revive the bio heritage of the city.

These four parks are coming up in the areas like - Northern Ridge, Yamuna Riverfront, Neela Hauz and Tilpath Valley near Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. All the four parks are in the planning stage and expected to materialize the plan by the end of this year. Delhi University's botany department will be helping DDA in this project. DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar said: "A proposal has been made for four bio-diversity parks, which are expected to revive the old eco-systems of the city and contain pollution levels.'' Among the four parks the longest two will be the Northern Ridge park spread over 87 hectares and the one on the Yamuna riverfront. Accoring to DDA “The site for the riverfront will see a body of interlinked pockets of bio-diversity parks on both sides of the river.” In the Northern Ridge DDA is planning to revive water harvesting sites along with eco-zones and green habitats available. The interesting thing is that DDA also wants to link the seven identified heritage structures in this area in the form of walkways. These include two guard houses, a flag staff tower that is a signal monument dating back to 1857, several 14th Century structures like Chauburja mosque and Pir-Ghaib, a British era Mutiny memorial and the third century BC Ashoka Pillar. Sources said these walkways will serve as both nature and heritage trails. If every thing comes out according to the plan then it will be one of the heritage parks.

In the Neela Hauz area, DDA is planning to carve out a green space area over 5 acres. This green land will later be integrated with the Sanjay Van and made into a reserve forest land. For the neighborhood of this area, there is an added good news - the woodlands here with nature trails will be developed near human settlements for recreational purposes. Similarly the Tilpath Valley biodiversity park will be built with an intention on reviving and restoring springs, as it is a major catchment area and a ground water recharging zone. To protect the zone, grass land will also be developed here. There are also plans to develop the park along with the sanctuary into a forest ecosystem having hilltops, slope and valley forest characteristics of the Aravallis. Along the periphery there will be a nature trail with a few walk ways.

Hopefully these four biodiversity parks are really going to be great support to the Delhi's eco system.