Home to a range of resident birds, Asita East, once developed, is expected to be a bird lovers’ delight. (Express Photo: Amit Mehra, File)In a bid to restore the ecology of the Yamuna floodplains and give breathable green space to the people of East Delhi, the Delhi Development Authority Wednesday inaugurated the Asita East project near Laxmi Nagar. The project is a part of the land-owning agency’s ongoing Yamuna floodplain restoration and rejuvenation drive.
Asita East project is spread over 197 hectares of land, of which 90 hectares are with DDA and the remaining falls under the jurisdiction of the UP irrigation department. Vikas Marg forms the southern edge, Pushta Road, the eastern edge, and the Yamuna flows towards its west. The 90 hectares of land under the DDA, located adjacent to Vikas Marg, has been inaugurated and opened to people.
Speaking at the inauguration, Lt. Governor V K Saxena emphasised the importance of Delhi reclaiming its green spaces and appealed to residents of the city to come forward and be proactive stakeholders in making the city’s air, water and environment pollution-free. The capital will soon have sufficient eco-friendly and environmentally rejuvenating public spaces for recreation and other activities, he said.
As part of the Asita East Project, about 100-150 metres of the area along the major roads have been developed as a greenway, which is proposed to be public recreation zone comprising walkways, water bodies and open spaces for congregation along with public amenities.
Further, nearly 300 metres of the area along the edge of the Yamuna has been developed as an ‘Ecological Zone’ with kaccha trails at regular stops for people to walk up to the river, aimed to revive the ancient connection of the Yamuna with the people of the city, officials said.
A senior DDA official said plantations conducive to the Yamuna floodplains have been strategically chosen, and about 4,000 trees and 33.5 lakh riverine grasses have been planted so far. An existing depression measuring around 2 hectares has been restored into a waterbody for the catchment of flood waters. This waterbody has the capacity to store about 50,000-60,000 cubic metres of water during monsoon.
Home to a range of resident birds like Spotbilled Duck, Indian Moorhen, Purple Swamphen and migratory birds like Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Grey Headed Canary Flycatcher, Asita East, once developed, will prove to be a bird lovers’ delight, he said.