The historical Roshanara Bagh in Shakti Nagar should be restored to its past glory by October end, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena instructed officials on Saturday.
With a restored lake, nursery, walkways and landscaped greens, the 400-year-old park under the MCD should be the pride of north Delhi and at par with Lodhi Garden and Nehru Park, Raj Niwas quoted the L-G as having told the officials concerned.
Mr. Saxena’s directions followed a field visit to the garden, during which he ordered officials to develop a world-class nursery of rare and exotic plants on an identified 8.5-acre piece of land within the next three months.
The planned nursery at Roshanara Bagh, apart from providing about 3 lakh plants annually for plantations across the city, will also make the saplings available to Delhi’s residents at nominal prices.
The L-G also directed officials to put in all efforts to restore a lake spanning 3.8 acres within the garden complex to its past glory. He instructed dredging of the lake and cleaning it to a depth of at least 4 metres and ensuring that it is developed not only as a tourist place but also as an ecosystem that sustains varied flora and fauna.
Underlining that rainwater in itself will not be sufficient to fill the lake, the L-G issued instructions to ensure that water from neighbouring areas prone to flooding and waterlogging be channelized into the lake through dedicated pipelines. Roshanara Road, Kamla Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Malkaganj and Andha Mughal are the areas that fall in the catchment area.
The soil being de-silted from the bed of the lake, meanwhile, will be used to build a four-meter-high bund around the lake. “The L-G asked for this embankment to be secured and paved by utilizing the C&D waste dumped at the Bhalaswa landfill site. While this would help reduce the burden on the landfill site, it will also ensure that the soil on the bund does not flow back into the lake,” Raj Niwas stated.
The L-G underlined that the bund should be built within a month.
Mr. Saxena ordered that walkways be developed, trees be pruned, a scientific plantation in congruence with the soil and climate of the place be ensured and the redeveloped gardens be replete with eco-friendly public utilities, eateries and recreational spaces.