Ghaziabad admin asks women to develop‘hariyali vatikas’

The Ghaziabad district administration has called on women to be part of the plantation drive from August 3 to August 9, which will coincide with the annual plantation drive and also the festival of ‘Teej’. The district magistrate Thursday came up with the concept of ‘hariyali vatika (green gardens)’, on the lines of ‘tiny forests’ at various educational institutions, schools, and industrial units.

District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said he has directed officials to rope in NGOs, self-help group of women, RWAs and women entrepreneurs to be a part of ‘hariyali vatika’ concept under which a massive plantation will be taken up.

“We have requested women to plant at least two trees this monsoon and also on the occasion of Teej which is a festival for women. The idea is that women can take best care of plants and their participation is required more to help the city get a green cover. The tiny forests will be developed with the help of participation of women at various places,” Pandey, said.

The district this year has received an annual plantation target of about 8.26 lakh saplings which was later hiked at district level to about 12.78 lakh saplings this monsoon season.

The GDA has also taken up the concept of developing ‘tiny forests’ on the same lines and will be taking up projects at six different sites with a minimum size of 1,000 square metres.

The authority officials on Thursday said they have decided to float an expression of interest for levying an entry fee at three of its major parks — Central Park, Aushadhi Park and Shilp Udyan at Raj Nagar.

“This is being done to cover the cost of development of park and its maintenance,” SK Rai, secretary, GDA, said.

According to horticulture department, the entry fee will be range from ₹5 to ₹10 per person. The authority, at present, maintains about 18,44,891 square metres of 129 parks. Besides that, the authority also maintains four playgrounds/stadiums measuring a total of 79,493.5 square metres.

“The move to levy an entry fee will be resisted by residents. It is the responsibility of the authority to maintain parks and if they levy an entry fee, we will resist the move,” Rajendra Tyagi, Raj Nagar councillor, said.

At present, the authority levies an entry fee at Swarn Jayanti Park (Indirapuram), Lohiya Park (Sahibabad), city Forest (Karhera) and Ambedkar Vatika (Vaaishali).

First Published:
Jul 25, 2019 23:01 IST

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