1.5L new saplings for city’s green lungs

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is planning to expand the Sanjay Van, biodiversity park that is spread across 800 acres along Aravali hills in the city. The authority will plant around 1.5 lakh saplings before the monsoon.

A senior DDA official said that a committee comprising environmentalists and volunteers are making blueprints of expansion plan with details of plantation drive. “As per initial proposed plan, plantation will begin before the onset of monsoon in the national capital.

Around 1.5 lakh plantlet native to Aravali Range will be planted during the special drive,” he said. For plantation drive, saplings of proposed plants to be placed in the Sanjay Van will be brought from Rajasthan and Gujarat. Saplings and seed of plants having medicinal properties will be planted during the drive.

The Sanjay Van, which is presently undergoing restoration through a unique collaborative effort between the DDA and a citizen’s group, could become a model that will be replicated to restore other ridges in the national capital.

To conserve and develop green belt in Mehrauli area, the DDA had developed Sanjay Van during the 1970s. There were green patches scattered in the rocky region near Qutub Minar, Kishan Garh, and Vasant Kunj area.

The government acquired over 200 acres cultivated land and consolidated it with the forest area for its conservation. The forest area, once the hunting range of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, is habitat to Blue Bulls (antelopes), Golden Jackals, varieties of lizards, snakes, and several species birds. “It is an attempt to preserve native trees of Aravali region, the existing species. We are aiming to spread it further by increasing the forest cover. In the last two and half years, more than one lakh native trees have been raised here. A plan to create a herbal garden is also under consideration,” said a senior DDA official.