Aravalli park: Clash of conservation and humans

Surojit Mahalanobis / TNN / Jul 24, 2005, 21:42 IST

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Livestock, their owners and residents of adjoining colony have turned the park into a grazing ground cum open-air toilet.

Aravalli park: Clash of conservation and humans

NEW DELHI: DDA's multi-crore Aravalli Bio-diversity Park project has entered 10-month maturity on Saturday. However, its labour pain is not over yet. Species of livestock, their owners and residents of adjoining Kusumpur Pahari resettlement colony have turned the nascent park into a massive grazing ground cum open-air toilet.
Amid stench, over half-a-dozen exotic weeds are growing there fast.Long, sharp and strong thorns of the kikars (prosopis juliflora) add discomfort to normal mobility.
The Delhi University scientists of Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Eco-systems (CEMDE) now have to tackle local political aspiration.
The DDA tried twice to construct a boundary wall around the park. Both times, angry residents razed the wall arguing the part of the park was theirs. In two letters (on July 12 and 20) to Vasant Kunj SHO Suresh Dagar, DDA engineer PK Nanda had asked for construction of the boundary wall under police supervision, which elicited little response due to "shortage of constables".

Municipal councillor Congress' Rajendri Sahrawat, who decries the locals' moves, can't find a solution. Her partyman MLA Vijay Lochak insists the residents are resettled people and not villagers. So they can't claim on any part of the park land. But he also blames the DDA for not constructing multi-storeyed public toilets for the 5,000 residents. "DDA karor kharch karti hai, char-panch lakh se unke liye toilets kyun nahi banate?" he asks.

Asked why he and local MP and the...
...councillor, all being Congrees members, could not spend from constituency development funds to construct the public toilets, Lochak said, "There are high court guidelines how MP, MLA funds are to be used. The fund is not for this purpose. Hoewever, I am sending 27 tankers every day there."
MP Sajjan Kumar, could not be contacted. Some locals say they get Kumar's blessings. Two days back, they even rushed to chief minister Sheila Dikshit asking to stop the DDA from constructing the boundary wall.
Kumar's name is doing the rounds even in the DDA. A source on condition of anonymity said, "Sajjan Kumar asked SHO Dagar to ask the DDA keep four entry points in the boundary wall so that villagers, not their cattle, can make use of the open areas as toilets."
Showing a 4-km stretch within the park, where the plant biotic falimies have been grazed away by stray cattle, an angry CR Babu, CEMDE chief, said, "This is our range area. We have planted over 13,000 plants. They have been eaten away by the cattles at seedling stage. This stage is vital for plants' natural growth. Entire money and labour have been lost."
Scientists have covered a 3-km stretch of entry pathway of residents and cattles with felled kikars, the sharp thorns pointedly protruded to create obstacle.
Intrigued DU scientists have turned to the core area. An acre of land has been cleaned of the (prosopis juliflora) jungle to plant native trees. A canopy is fast growing there.
Children's amphetheatre is being constructed as a butterfly zone in the park. Incharge Md Shah Hussain said, "We will attract at least 500 species of butterflies here. We're creating their habitats."
Taking this correspondent round, Shah showed unlimited counts of insects. Seven mammals and 10 snake species...
...have also been spotted. "Many snake species are likely to be in rocky terrains near the gorges, where over 100 caves are available", he said.
Four artificial wetlands have been cut, bordered by bamboo plants. Last rain has filled a few of these. A pair each of cormorants and spotbill ducks have arrived for nesting. The ducks' presence also confirms availability of some minor fish species, which feed on nascent underwater plants. Ornithologist Aisha Sultana has said, "Seventyeight bird species have been spotted so far. With next rains, we are hopeful of drawing migratory birds."

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