The environmentalists are opposing the large-scale cutting of trees for making the park.
The environmentalists have decided to protest against the Noida Authority’s decision to make a bio-diversity park in Sector-91. The Authority has already started the work on it.
The bio-diversity park will be spread in the area of 75 acres near the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. It will become the city’s largest park.
The budget for making this park is Rs 50 crore. Currently, the city’s largest park is the Meghdhuttam Park in Sector-50. It is spread around 28 acres of land.
The environmentalists are opposing the large-scale cutting of trees for making the park.
An environmentalist, Vikrant Togad, told City Spidey that a beautiful and lush green forest is being cut down in the heart of the city.
“This forest has Nilgai, peacocks and hundreds of species of birds. This forest is the habitat of wildlife. The authority wants to remove these animals from their habitat,” Tongad added.
Tongad also said that the Noida Authority wants to covert the forest into a park with food courts and swimming pool. He added that half of the forest has already been felled but the remaining trees can be saved. He requested the authority to ensure that the loss of trees is compensated with new trees.
“We are going to stage a protest at the park site to change their decision,” he added.
Rajender Kumar, deputy director of horticulture of Noida Authority told City Spidey, “We are removing the Eucalyptus trees which are there from 1986-87. The age of a Eucalyptus plant is 15 years. So, we are removing them.”
“After removing them, we will plant 5,000 traditional trees including Neem, Jamun, Banyan and many more. We will also plant 19,625 ornamental trees to make this park the most beautiful in the city. The facilities like long cycle tracks, walkways, water bodies and amphitheatre etc. will be made available for the public,” Kumar added.
On the question of wildlife getting affected while making the park, he said that there is more than 40 acres of green belt area between the sectors 91 and 93 where they will put up the tube wells, hand pumps and also make small potholes for purpose of drinking water.
“We will shift these animals in that green belt. We will make proper arrangements for them,” Kumar said.
Kumar also said that the park will be completed within six months. He added that they will start planting trees within 20 days.
