NEW DELHI: The restoration of the 3.8-acre Roshanara Bagh Lake in north Delhi is fast under way with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi now carrying out stone-pitching work on the sides and reviving the island there. This will be followed by the development of a walking track and green belt, installation of benches around the lake and the repair of the gazebo, internal roads and boundary wall. The work will take around six months for completion.”We have finished cleaning the dry waterbody, which is about 4 metres deep. We are working on the embankment, specifically the stone pitching. We will fill the lake with treated water from the sewage treatment plant on the complex. This process will take two months,” said an MCD official.About 80% of work on the STP plant near gate No 3 has been completed. It has the capacity to treat 2.3 million litres of wastewater daily, said officials. Pipelines for supplying water from STP to the lake have also been laid.”We also have plans to develop a green belt around the lake. We will fence the area and construct a walking track. It will not only beautify the area, but also restrict the people from coming close to the lake,” the official said.The Roshanara Bagh lake is maintained by MCD but it has been dry for years because there is no channel for water supply. For some time the lake was fed by rainwater and channels from the Najafgarh drain. “The change in the slope of the surrounding area and increased concretisation meant water no longer flowed into it and it dried up,” said an official. “Except in 2012-14, when a railway bridge was constructed nearby and the water pumped out there was diverted here.”Last year, lieutenant governor VK Saxena visited the place and directed water from neighbouring areas prone to flooding, such as Roshanara Road, Kamla Nagar, Malkaganj and Andha Mughal, to be channelled to the lake through pipelines if the STP supply fell short.Meanwhile, to meet the requirement for plants at the garden there, MCD’s horticulture department is busy with production of saplings at the neighbouring nursery. The nursery, revived a few months ago, has two polyhouses with fogging and temperature control and two greenhouses for plants.Officials said that the first lot of 38,000 saplings from the nursery had been distributed and preparation for the next lot of plants for monsoon was in progress. “While one of the hi-tech polyhouses is temperature- and humidity-controlled, the other has a facility for temperature control only. We have been growing at least 40,000 saplings through seeds, plant cuttings (soft and hard wood cutting) and other processes here. After keeping them here for two weeks, we shift them to two green sheds for hardening and to acclimatise them. Later, these are planted in pots before being shifted to other places,” said the official.Giving an opportunity to nature lovers to visit the nursery, the civic body plans to dedicate a corner for recreation purposes for the general public. There will be an area for children where swings will be installed. People can relax at this pot and also buy plants and saplings.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/walking-track-green-belt-and-more-in-this-island-of-change/articleshow/100220309.cms