WINNER: South Delhi Municipal Corporation for the Waste to Wonder Park TRASH TO TREASURE
WHY IT WON: For using a reclaimed landfill and 150 tonnes of industrial waste to create a public green space
IF YOU LIVE IN DELHI AND WANT selfies in front of some of the world’s iconic monuments, all you need to do perhaps is head to the Waste to Wonder park in Sarai Kale Khan, where you could pose in front of replicas of the ‘Seven Wonders’ of the world. What’s unique is that the installations were built using some 150 tonnes of industrial and other waste.
The park has been created by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), one of the country’s largest civic bodies servicing a population of 6 million. It opened to public in February.
SDMC launched the Waste to Art project in 2017-18, looking to instal sculptures made from scrap in public places. Thirty sculptures were placed at traffic intersections, markets and parks. The Waste to Wonder park was inspired by the film Badrinath Ki Dulhania, which features Kota’s Seven Wonders park.
For the replicas of monuments, SDMC used automobile scrap and metal waste, such as fans, rods, iron sheets, bicycle and motorbike parts, defunct sewer lines and old appliances piled up in 24 municipal stores across the capital. A landfill, reclaimed from the Delhi Metro, was selected as the site. Thirteen artistes and 50 labourers worked for six months to complete the Rs 7.5 crore project.
The SDMC has earned over Rs 2 crore in the first four months itself from the sale of entry tickets to the park. The park has seating areas, open lawns and gazebos. Toilets have been built using metal containers. There is solar power supply as well. The tourist destination attracts an average 10,000 people daily. As they wander about, it becomes difficult to imagine that underneath the lush landscape is a reclaimed landfill. ■