Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena laid the groundwork for the city's first bamboo theme park, "Baansera," at the Yamuna floodplain on Tuesday. According to a press release from the Delhi Development Authority, over 25,000 special varieties of bamboo saplings procured from Assam will be planted at the park.
It aims to supplement the Capital's "much-needed public spaces" and to ensure that "the rich biodiversity of the floodplain is preserved and maintained." "The entire area has been divided into two sections: bamboo recreation, primarily in the greenway zone, and bamboo plantation, as well as other riverine plantations," explained Saxena.
The theme park will be spread across 10 hectares of floodplains, south of the NH-24, on the western banks, and will include amenities designed with bamboo, such as kiosks, huts, a watchtower, and public seating in the greenway area.
"The L-G had directed that a 2.5-hectare depression at the project site be developed into a live water body." "Works on the project have been completed, and the waterbody will be a part of Baansera," the DDA said in a statement.
When asked about the project's estimated completion date, a senior DDA official stated that it will be completed "soon," but declined to provide a timeline.
"In July, 20,000 saplings of 15 varieties of bamboo were procured from Assam, and a nursery has already been established so that they can be adapted to the climatic conditions of Delhi in time for planting on the site during this monsoon season," the DDA said in a statement.
However, the Delhi unit of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) has called for a protest on Wednesday, claiming that slum dwellers were removed from the stretch where the project is to be carried out.
"On August 8, a 40-year-old slum near Sarai Kale Khan was demolished." More than 600 people from families of daily wage labourers live in the area's slum clusters. They have been in the area for over 40 years and have now been pushed into the streets or temporary shelters during the monsoon season.
"Within two days of the Delhi High Court order vacating the earlier stay on Gyaspur demolitions, the DDA pasted demolition notices, which were carried out within another two days," according to the AICCTU press note.
