The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday asked the Art of Living Foundation to develop the entire area in question on the Yamuna floodplains into a biodiversity park. The site, however, is already planned to be turned into a biodiversity park as per the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
The DDA plans to create a 42-km-long riverfront (including both banks) spanning from Palla in north Delhi to Jaitpur in south Delhi. The riverbank, according to plans, will be divided into three zones with varying accessibility for the public. The plan envisages development of biodiversity at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, Golden Jubilee Park, Qudsia Ghat and near NH-24. As part of the development, there would be three types of zones with varying accessibility for the public. While the first zone would be protected biodiversity, the second would be more interactive with limited access to public. The third zone would include public zones meant for recreational purposes.
As part of Phase I of the project, the DDA has developed the Yamuna biodiversity park near Wazirabad village and is already working on Phase II. The project is being funded by the DDA and developed by the Delhi University’s Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Systems. An area of 9,700 hectares on the banks of the Yamuna has been designated as O-Zone under the Master Plan for Delhi 2021.
On Tuesday, the Art of Living had said that the Yamuna riverbank should be converted into a biodiversity reserve to rebuild its flora and fauna so that it becomes a green lung for the Capital. The Foundation had said that it would extend its ‘fullest support, including volunteering by thousands of its members, to help set up such a biodiversity reserve’.
The Delhi government’s Environment and Forest Department has offered to carry out plantation on the floodplains after the event.
Ashwani Kumar, Environment and Forest Secretary, said: “We would be happy to carry out plantation. We can use our Air Ambience Fund, which is around Rs. 160 crore, for the same.”
The Forest Department had earlier told the DDA that it would be open to setting up biodiversity parks on the floodplains. In an ongoing case, the High Court has asked the DDA to respond to the Forest Department on the availability of land for biodiversity parks. The next hearing is on Thursday.
