Delhi flood: Newly developed biodiversity park submerged

Asita East, which had only recently begun to attract visitors, was inundated to nearly the main gates and forced to close to the public

In March, lieutenant governor VK Saxena hosted international delegates attending the G20 summit-related meetings in the national capital at the newly developed Asita East biodiversity park, built along the Yamuna floodplains.

The flooded Yamuna at ITO. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Only four months later, the entire Biodiversity Park, which had only recently begun to attract visitors, was inundated to nearly the main gates and forced to close to the public. The guards reported that the garden, as well as the area where the diplomats sat for tea and snacks and the vast grasslands where they went cycling, had all been submerged under ten feet of water. Officials added that the floodwaters would make the area marshy and that even after the water recedes, it will take months to restore the soil quality to the point where people can visit it as a tourist attraction.

“The water began to rise on Tuesday evening, and we were told to close the area to visitors. The water has risen significantly since then and has almost reached the gate,” said a guard at the Asita East gates.

Flooding was seen in all six DDA biodiversity parks along the Yamuna floodplains. While these are all restored areas, there will be significant loss of vegetation and recent plantation. These biodiversity parks include Yamuna, Aravalli, Kamla Nehru, Tilpath, Neela Hauz and Tughlaqabad.

HT contacted the LG office about the flooding of biodiversity parks, but no response was received.