![]() ![]() It was only six months back that I came here for a cycling trip and since then it is my weekend destination,” says Manya Oberoi. Over the years I have seen it becoming a lifeless concrete jungle. As the sun rises you see an enthusiastic group of butterfly watchers heading towards a shrubby patch where rare species were sighted only a few weeks ago. Yet it’s not just any other ‘public’ park: It has 300 plant varieties, including 200 rare and medicinal herbs, 182 recorded bird species, and most recently, it recorded over 50 butterfly species. ![]() Today, it is a green miracle, thanks to the efforts of Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, NGOs such as ‘I am Gurgaon’ and corporates choosing it as a part of their social responsibility. Initially the plan was dismissed as a publicity gimmick at a time of unchecked real estate boom. The Haryana government stepped in with plans to convert the stretch into a forest. ![]() The Ministry of Environment and Forest issued a notification in 1992, declaring the Aravalis as ‘gair mumkin pahar’ (uncultivable forested hills), effectively stopping brazen exploitation of the foothills. Deforestation was rampant in a stretch known for the world’s oldest mountain ranges. When you go a few years back, the place - in pre-expressway days - the area snarled with sound of stone crushers and machines scooping out sand and hauling them on to trucks. Since its creation about six years ago, the park has drawn nature lovers, joggers, butterfly & bird watchers, gardening enthusiasts and meditation lovers. Heard of the biodiversity park, sprawled over 400 acres perched on the Aravalis foothills? Projected by its ambitious city fathers as Singapore, the city appears to lack something as basic as a green spread to lean on, for the breath to rejuvenate itself. Think of a modern city, think of its islands in concrete, something this aspiring cyber town has come to be known for. ![]()
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