City Forests at Mitraon, Alipur, Garhi Mandu and Jaunapur will be revamped with state of the art infrastructure – Gopal Rai
City Forest to be built on the theme of “Prakriti Ke Paas Parivar Ke Saath”; their physical structure will not be tampered with – Gopal Rai
City Forests will be developed on eco-friendly and sustainable models – Gopal Rai
New Delhi
Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai shared the development model of 4 out of 19 city forests of Delhi today. He informed that the forests will be revamped at world class level. The main theme of this project will be “Prakriti Ke Paas Parivar Ke Saath”.
During an important press conference held at the Delhi Secretariat, Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai said, “A considerable rise in the green cover of Delhi has been witnessed as a result of the Kejriwal Government’s measures. The green cover in Delhi has increased from 20% in 2013 to 23.06 percent in 2021. In addition, Delhi has also surpassed all other cities in the country in terms of per capita forest cover.”
“One of the 14 points of the Summer Action Plan is to develop Delhi’s City Forests. In this direction, the Forest and Wildlife Department has set a goal of developing 19 city forests in Delhi, in addition to boosting the city’s green cover. In the first phase, the aim is to develop the four main city forests located in the four corners of Delhi. These include Mitraon City Forest in South West Delhi, Alipur City Forest in North Delhi, Garhi Mandu City Forest in East Delhi and Jaunapur City Forest in South Delhi. These four city forests are spread over 286 acres of Delhi. Under this project, 98 acres of pocket A and B of Mitraon City Forest, 48 acres of Alipore City Forest, 42 acres of Garhi Mandu City Forest and 98 acres of Jaunpur City Forest will be developed,” he further added.
- Salient Features of World Class level City Forest
Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai, while mentioning about the features of these city forests being built at world class level said, “These city forests will be developed on an eco-friendly model. Under this, their physical structure will not be tampered with. Muram paths, drinking water, public facilities, meditation huts, and amphitheaters will be available to the general public in these city forests, as well as opportunities to do research and improve the city forest based on their findings; it’s also been recommended that the forests be developed into an open museum or a living lab.”
Also keeping in view the environment of the region he informed, “Plants would also be distributed free of cost to all the people through small nurseries in these city forests. Also outdoor activities like bird watching, jungle walk activity etc is also included in this model. In addition an online portal will also be developed in order to provide a common platform for those who do or want to do activities in the City Forest.”
- Main theme of this project is Prakriti Ke Paas Parivar Ke Saath
Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai said, “To make the city forest world-class, the government would first hold a design/idea competition. The department is forming a steering committee for this purpose, which will be in charge of this project. Also, the project’s main theme is “Prakriti Ke Paas Parivar Ke Saath,” which means that the Delhi government is attempting to link all the citizens of Delhi with nature.”
Talking about the main objective of developing City Forest, The Environment Minister said, “Our government wishes to provide the citizens of Delhi with a place where they may appreciate nature while also educating the next generation about it. The Kejriwal government is motivated to develop and maintain Delhi’s city forests on the basis of ecological security.”