Delhi to get 7th biodiversity park soon

NEW DELHI: South Biodiversity Park, which was recently approved by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), will be developed in different phases on the Yamuna floodplain in the next five years.

At present, New Delhi has six biodiversity parks the Yamuna Biodiversity Park at Wazirabad, the Kamla Nehru Ridge near Civil Lines, the Aravalli Biodiversity Park at Vasant Vihar, Tilpath valley near Sainik Farms, one behind Tughlakabad Fort, and the Neela Hauz Lake.

The work of redevelopment of 115 hectares of sewage sludge ponds will start in the seventh natural reserve of the city in a week’s time. Currently, the area is next to the DND flyover, just behind Kalindi Colony on the western banks of Yamuna river. It receives wastewater from nine unauthorised colonies, the biggest of which is Kilokri village, and has become a mosquito breeding ground.

A team of scientists, led by ecologist C R Babu, who heads the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) at Delhi University, is slated to work on the project. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which owns the land, has allocated about ₹2 crore for the project.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Yamuna Pollution Monitoring Committee, set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 11, 2018, headed by former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra and expert member B S Sajwan. Officials from the DDA, Delhi Jal Board and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) were also present at the meeting.