Muredha park project gets Army nod

PUNE: The Pune-based Southern Command of the Indian Army and the office of the Principal Officer of Defence Estates (PODE) have given their sanction for the remaining two phases of the Rs 2.7-crore worth Muredha nullah eco-park project in Pune Camp. The first phase of the park has been inaugurated on September 27 by Lieutenant General Aditya Singh, the former general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) of the Southern Command.
Brigadier R J Sharma, Pune region sub-area commander and president of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB), said the work of developing the two phases will be taken up immediately.“Besides starting work on the remaining section of the park, we will also begin certain value additions in the part that has been opened for the public. We hope to finish the entire project by early 2009,” he told TOI.
The first phase of the park, which is complete, stretches from the Exhibition road to the Gurudwara road, covering a length of 352 metres on the banks of the Muredha nullah, with a basement area of 15,000 sq m. Upon completion of the remaining two phases, the park will be 1,852-metre long and cover a basement area of 1,12,600 sq.m on both sides of the nullah from the Exhibition road to the Rajendra Singhji Institute (RSI) club junction.
The park has been handed over to the PCB and the entire amount, including Rs 1 crore for the remaining part of the project, will come from the board.
A few proposals by the former GOC-in-C have been included as a part of the project for the remaining sections. These include a cycle track, lighting of trees from below, sidewalk along the walls of the nullah park, an open space for cultural performances, anti-mosquito measures and walls with open chain link fence on the sides of the park.
According to Sharma, once completed, the park will have walking tracks, made of Shahabad stones, on both sides of the nullah with a width of 1.5 metres, three-metre wide jogging tracks on both sides, channelisation of the nullah for its entire length, 140 illumination poles, nine gazebos, 5,200 cubic metre of embankment, three waterfalls, nine cascades, seven gates, a fish pond, a butterfly garden, snack joints and a herbal and medicinal plant garden.
“We are developing the park on the ancient Indian concept of ‘Hrituchakra’ (cycle of seasons) and various flowers and plants will cater to the tastes and sensibilities of different seasons,” said Sharma.