Gurugram’s Aravalli Biodiversity Park gets a new custodian very soon
With the lease expiring of the NGO on December 15, the MCG takes back the management of its public green land to shift gears of development and hands over the reins of Biodiversity Park to a new caretaker for five years. This time a corporate two-wheeler giant, which under its CSR mandate promises to bring about a positive change in the area by bringing in new concepts.
“Our agreement with the NGO lapsed in March this year. However, due to constraints imposed by the coronavirus lockdown, we requested IAmGurgaon to continue maintaining the park in the interim. From now on, we have decided to appoint a new concessionaire to maintain the site using corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds,” said Vinay Pratap Singh, Commissioner, MCG.
A landmark on Gurugram’s map
Spread across 153 hectares, the Aravalli Biodiversity Park is abundant with a wide variety of flora and fauna and one of the biggest green hubs of the otherwise concrete city. The park was inaugurated by the then chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in June 2010. Since 2012, the park has been under the helm of the NGO, Iamgurgaon which facilitated its restoration from a mining site to a densely green urban forest, under the ownership of the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon (MCG).
In September this year, IAmGurgaon released a report — Making of a City Forest — chronicling the 10-year journey of the ecological restoration of the Aravalli Biodiversity Park — highlighting the scientific importance of the park, which experts regard as a valuable repository of native Aravalli flora and fauna.
The report also seeks that the park is declared as a biodiversity heritage site (BHS) under the ownership of the MCG. Even after the new management takes over, the representatives of the NGO will remain committed to the cause of the protection of the park and extend support, say the sources.
The park has since revived over 380 acres of Aravalli vegetation near Nathupur village and is nurturing multiple ecosystems, including dense woodlands, grasslands, rocky outcrops and water bodies.
