Dwarka residents want biodiversity park spread across 80 hectares

Say it will recharge groundwater and sustain birds, animals

March 03, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:32 am IST - NEW DELHI:

The Bharat Vandana Udhyaan, where a biodiversity park may come up, has a water body revived by residents and welcomes various birds and animals.

The Bharat Vandana Udhyaan, where a biodiversity park may come up, has a water body revived by residents and welcomes various birds and animals.

Dwarka might get a biodiversity park spread over 80 hectares if the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) agrees to the requests of its residents.

The residents have been asking the DDA to develop a biodiversity park at Bharat Vandana Udhyaan in Sector 20 saying it would act as a recharge zone to improve the local water table in the area which is water scarce. The Udhyaan has a water body revived by residents and welcomes various birds and animals.

When asked about the plans, DDA Vice-Chairman Balvinder Kumar did not say if the land agency had agreed to grant residents their wish but said “anything concerning environment is better than any other development”.

“Biodiversity parks are always far better than anything else...Anything related to environment is good,” said Mr. Kumar without clearly specifying the future of Bharat Vandana Udhyaan.

The land use of Bharat Vandana Udhyaan is recreational green, which allows certain construction which the residents are not in favour of. They took up the issue when they got to know that the land is under consideration by the DDA’s architectural division. This could mean some construction over it.

A representation with signatures of environmentalists and residents was submitted to Mr. Kumar.

Mr. Kumar did not disagree with the logic given by the residents who wish to see a biodiversity park at the site just like the DDA’s Yamuna biodiversity park near Wazirabad village or Jagatpur village and the Aravalli biodiversity Park near Vasant Vihar in south central ridge.

“Dwarka is a water scarcity area. There is need for rainwater harvesting in surface water bodies which not only store water and recharge sub-soil aquifer, but also buffer the local ambient temperature,” said Diwan Singh of the Yamuna Satyagrah and Dwarka Water Bodies Committee.

“A biodiversity park at the site will serve as a habitat for aquatic fauna and flora. The 80 ha plot already has a wetland which receives storm water from its own catchment and from surrounding areas. The storm water from the airport and nearby areas that is being diverted into the water body here, under directions from the Dwarka Water Bodies Committee, has immense potential for improving the local water table,” said Mr. Singh.

Mr. Singh is part of the group which revived the water body in the Bharat Vandana Udhyaan.

Not just Dwarka but residents from nearby colonies like Janakpuri, Kakrola Extn, Palam, Uttam Nagar, Nawada and local villages too support the proposal. “We also hope that the existing population of wildlife like neelgai, jackals, peacock, hare, and monitor lizards may survive if the DDA heeds to the request of residents. A biodiversity park would also serve a great value for conservation and nature education,” says Mr. Singh.

He informed that a group of residents also visited “the existing biodiversity parks and discussed their proposal with Manu Bhatnagar (INTACH), Manoj Mishra (Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan), Prof. Vikram Soni, environmentalist and research scientist at Jamia Milia University, Prof. Shashank Shekhar, hydrogeologist at Dept of Geology, Delhi University. All these experts have endorsed the proposal”.

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