Gurugram: The district administration is currently preparing a detailed project report for three new biodiversity parks in Damdama, Kukrola and Kasan, under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan's afforestation component.
As part of this process, the deputy commissioner's office, the district development and panchayat office, the forest department and a team of officials from the recently constituted GuruJal initiative are vetting revenue records of land in and around these villages.
Amit Khatri, the deputy commissioner, stated that the total area earmarked for restoration in different parts of the district under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan amounts to about 1,500 acres.
"We have identified as much panchayat land in various parts, with the conservation of water and forests being the main objective. However, we would also like to open up these areas for tourists, like in the Aravalli Biodiversity Park," said Khatri
Once prepared, the detailed project report will have to be approved by the state cabinet. Support of various local panchayats will also be required before this ambitious proposal can be implemented. However, to circumvent this hurdle, stakeholder departments have already begun reaching out to local panchayats to gain their support.
"Fieldwork for community mobilisation is already underway. We are roping in the local panchayats as they will be the direct beneficiaries of the initiative and custodians of the forest," said a senior public official, who added that this proposal would further increase Gurugram's forest cover, which currently stands at nine per cent for the district (as opposed to about 3.75 per cent for the state).
Vijay Dhasmana, an ecologist who helmed the restoration of Aravalli Biodiversity Park, said that it
Under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, which the GuruJal initiative is monitoring, plantation drives in Kasan, Kukrola and Damdama have already begun. Officials said that an estimated two and a half lakh trees will be planted
As of now, Gurugram has only one Biodiversity park that was built with a public-private partnership near Nathupur. For a city where viewing greenery is now becoming more of a luxury, the 600 acres Biodiversity Park was a unique initiative of public-private participation that is just O kilometers from Delhi. More than 14 multinational companies in the city had funded the project. From 2010 there have been no plantations initiated by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram and the responsibility has been entrusted upon a private organisation.
Aravalli Biodiversity Park is at least 300 acres, six times the size of the Butchart Gardens. In a decade since restoration efforts began, the barren land is turning into a young forest with more than 400 plant species, where the sighting of about 182 bird species and wild fauna have been reported.