'Wonders of the World' park opens to public

New Delhi: A theme park featuring a 60-ft Eiffel Tower, a 20-ft Taj Mahal and replicas of five other wonders of the world built using 150 tonnes of industrial and other waste in south Delhi, was thrown open to the public on Friday. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had inaugurated the 'Waste to Wonder Park', spread over seven acres in Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Van near Sarai Kale Khan, on Thursday evening. "The park was today thrown open to the public. On the first day itself, it is seeing a rush, as it is a unique recreational area, marrying recycling with aesthetics," a senior SDMC official said.

He said the park built at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore will operate from 11 am to 11 pm. The home minister had praised the initiative of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), saying the park "sets an example of 'waste-to-wealth' for other agencies", as scrap has been used to create the "wonders of the world". The replicas are — Taj Mahal (20 ft), the Great Pyramid of Giza (18 ft), Eiffel Tower (60 ft), Leaning Tower of Pisa (25 ft), Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer (25 ft), Rome's Colosseum (15 ft) and New York's Statute of Liberty (30 ft), SDMC officials said.

The seven replicas are installed in a landscaped park. Eiffel Tower, the veritable symbol of Paris and France, which is the tallest one among the replicas, and a Taj Mahal fashioned out of industrial and other waste, including used cycle chains, and motifs drawn on it using laser-cut technology, strikingly stand out.