In rapidly urbanising Gurgaon, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has decided to rejuvenate a small set of ponds. Recognising the importance of about 120-odd Johads (ponds), which have either shrunk or have just vanished, the corporation has entered into an agreement with Future Institute, a not-for-profit and an applied urban research based organisation in New Delhi. The institute will provide technical and design support to the MCG for the next two years.
With rejuvenation of these ponds, the authorities hope that it would improve biodiversity by attracting birds and encouraging establishment of native vegetation, plants and trees. In addition, the project aims to revive the socio-cultural capital of Gurgaon by developing these spaces as places of social interaction and cultural exchange in day to day lives of the residents as well as by organising some festivals and undertaking events at city scale that have been traditionally a part of the social fabric of Haryana.
First in the series, Deputy Commissioner T. L. Satyaprakash inaugurated the work on Basai pond on Monday in the presence of various officials and representatives from MCG, Future Institute and local residents.
Addressing the event, Mr. Satyaprakash drew the analogy of a wedding in a village to the process of making this launch a successful beginning saying, “Similar to a wedding in a village, this initiative is like a collective celebration, everyone owns it, they contribute according to their ability, and though things go wrong the event happens successfully and only the good times are remembered. Let’s hope the will and cooperation of all stakeholders come together and enable in making our city clean healthy, liveable and sustainable.”
“We hope that soon citizens of Gurgaon will be proud of these water bodies rather than turning away from these ponds as was done in the recent past, and the water table will be slowly restored to a state of health”, said Mr. Sanjay Prakash, core mentor, Future Institute.
Corporates have also offered to sponsor this initiative as part of their CSR fund for sustainability.
