As many as 656 trees cover the 6.8-hectare site on which the proposed expanded “self-sufficient” AIIMS trauma centre here is to come up. Of the 656 trees, 452 are vilayti kikar and 63 are kabili kikar , both varieties of acacia. The site has 25 types of trees, including seven shisham trees.
Adjacent to the proposed site for the expanded trauma centre is a 3.22 hectare land, which is to be maintained as district park. It has 221 trees, of which 211 are kabli kikar .
The trees were counted by an inspection team comprising senior officers of the Planning Department, after the Lieutenant-Governor expressed the desire on July 11 to know the extent of green area and the number of trees to be affected by the expansion of trauma centre.
In its latest status report, the inspection team says the proposed site is adjacent to the existing trauma centre. The site is at present temporarily allotted to Safdarjung Hospital for dumping of construction/ demolition waste as construction work is being carried out in the adjacent area. The dumping has created a nine-metre high mound of excavation and construction waste.
The peripheral area, which is to be developed into a district park, is full of trees, but the inspection team said that to develop this site into a district park, the hospital authorities will have to remove the construction waste and the top soil to make it usable for horticulture purpose.
The expansion proposal was sent by the AIIMS Director to the Ministry of Urban Development last year.
The DDA had been considering the change of land use of the 6.8-hectares from recreational (district park) to public and semi-public use (hospital or other public facilities).
The Technical Committee, in its meeting in June, recommended the proposal on the condition that the entire complex will be self-sufficient with respect to physical and social infrastructure as per Master Plan 2021 regarding services plan/ green building.
It also laid down a condition that the scheme will be self-sufficient in terms of solid waste management including hospital/ bio-medical waste, and will provide plots for solid waste related facilities.
A comprehensive traffic and transportation scheme is also to be prepared for integration of existing and proposed development and to be submitted to UTTIPEC for approval.
The Committee had also recommended that minimum cutting of existing trees be undertaken for expansion of trauma centre. The Lieutenant-Governor had approved the proposal in principle on May 27.
As per the proposal, AIIMS has suggested connecting Safdarjung Hospital, the new land for Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS campus at Ansari Road.
Initially the proposal for expansion of the trauma centre was received for 19.92 acres. However, to maintain a part of the district park and the DDA land, the proposed area was brought down to 16.80 acres or 6.8 hectares.
