Gurgaon: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has once again rolled out a plan to redevelop green belts falling under its jurisdiction. The authority has started work on two green belts — one along the road connecting Huda City Centre and SPR and another along the stretch between the centre and Subhash Chowk. Once revamped, these stretches will serve as a model for other green belts in the city, GMDA officials said.
Talking about the plan, GMDA divisional forest officer Subhash Yadav said they have begun the work of fencing the green belts on the two stretches. “Once fencing has been completed, plantation will begin. Tenders for both fencing and plantation have been already allotted,” Yadav said.
As of now, most green belts in the city are in poor condition due to lack of maintenance. Many of them have also been encroached upon. “Once the green belts are revamped, we will be ensuring regular maintenance as well,” Yadav added.
Some of these green belts will be developed and maintained by companies as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). The metropolitan authority has prepared a standard operating procedure (SOP) for developing and maintaining green belts. The SOP will be applicable for corporates taking over green belts under CSR or contractors employed by GMDA. The SOP mentions the kind of plants and trees to be planted and their maintenance procedure.
GMDA had launched an ambitious plan to revamp its green belts with help from private companies and CSR funds around one-and-a-half years ago. At least ten private firms had signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with GMDA as part of the ‘Green Gurugram’ initiative to develop and maintain green belts along important stretches in the city. The initiative was launched in collaboration with Nasscom under which several green belts across the city were to be redeveloped with amenities such as pedestrian walkways, cycling tracks, amphitheatres and kids play area. It has, however, mostly remained on paper.
Asked about the earlier plan, Yadav said, “I recently conducted a meeting with the companies concerned and we have asked them to either complete the work as promised in the MoUs or give up the green belts so that we can take up the repair work instead.”