25-acre nursery planned in Delhi
New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Saturday inspected a 25-acre horticultural plot in the city where a "world-class" nursery and eco-tourism hub is planned be set up, officials said.
Saxena instructed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to put forth a plan of action for it with concrete timelines within a week, the Raj Niwas said in a statement.
"With the objective of providing the national capital with its first world-class nursery that would also twin as an eco-tourism hub, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena today (Saturday) went on a site inspection of various locations across the national capital," it said.
The proposed nursery will not only serve as a common and extensive resource pool for sourcing horticultural requirements of the city but also as a favoured destination for eco-tourism for residents and visitors, the officials said.
Having zeroed in on a 25-acre plot of land in Khoja Wala Bagh Ashok Vihar, Saxena, who had earlier described himself as "Delhi's local guardian", issued instructions to the land owning agency to put forth a plan of action within a week's time, the statement said.
The lieutenant governor (L-G) was accompanied by the special officer and the commissioner of the MCD, vice-chairman of the DDA, and other senior officers of departments concerned.
"The idea is also to prevent degradation of unused land, check encroachment of land and create a green space where different tenets of sustainable development could co-exist," the Raj Niwas statement said.
Spread over existing fallow and wasteland, the nursery once developed will have different varieties of indigenous ecology and topography-compliant medicinal and exotic flora available for use by government agencies as well as citizens, it said.
It will also house landscaped greens, cafeteria, walkways, public utilities and an inherent flower display that would serve as a recreational destination and tourist attraction for people of the city and visitors, the statement added.
Situated right beside the Jailor Wala Bagh 'in-situ slum rehabilitation' project of the DDA under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna Scheme, the nursery will not only provide an enhanced eco-friendly environmental experience to the most deprived sections, but will also serve as a go-to health and recreational destination for surrounding areas, the officials said.
Being developed in the heart of the Wazirpur industrial area, this green patch will go on to serve as the "much-needed oxygenating lungs of the hitherto polluted neighbourhood", the statement said.
