MCD plans cafeteria, play zone at Roshanara Bagh

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is planning to add new features to the Roshanara Bagh, including a watch tower, play zone, and cafeteria. Work on reviving the lake is already underway and is expected to be completed by December.

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi plans to add several new features to the Roshanara Bagh, including a bamboo machaan (watch tower) offering a panoramic view of the Mughal-era garden, a bamboo play-zone for children and a new cafeteria, senior civic officials overseeing the revamp of the 17th century park said.

Work on reviving the lake inside the garden is already underway. (HT Archive)

They added that work on reviving the lake inside the garden is already underway, part of a ₹10 crore project sanctioned by the central government, and it is likely to be completed by December this year.

A senior MCD official said that the tender for building the machaan was issued in September. “The machaan will be 16-feet-high offering a full view of the 57-acre complex which includes Mughal-era monuments, lake and nearby features. The machaan will be located near the high-tech nursery developed by MCD last year,” one official said. The play zone will be a circular feature to be made out mostly of bamboo plants. An old shed located in the garden will be turned into a cafeteria for visitors, the official added.

Spread over 57 acres, the 17th century Roshanara Bagh was developed by the second daughter of the emperor Shah Jahan and Begum Mumtaz Mahal. The original garden was designed and commissioned by the princess in the 1650s at the time when Shahjahanabad was being built. The “baradari” at the centre of the garden now serves as her final resting place.

MCD opened a state-of-the-art nursery at Roshanara Bagh on December 30 last year. Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena directed the officials during his visit to the Bagh on June 18, 2022, to develop a “world-class nursery” on the 8.5 acre land which was earlier lying covered with construction and demolition waste.

A second MCD official said that the stone pitching work on the lake is being carried out. “DJB has completed the work on setting up a decentralized sewage treatment plant which will feed the lake. The plant has a capacity of cleaning 2.25 million litres of drain water everyday which will be fed to the lake. The central government has also sanctioned ₹11 crore for lake rejuvenation and the project will include development of pathways, illumination and play zones for children,” the second official added.