MCD to set up school of gardening at Roshanara Bagh

This will be the second such facility in the Capital, after New Delhi Municipal Council’s school of gardening

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is in the process of developing a school of gardening at Roshanara Bagh in north Delhi that will offer certificate courses in various gardening subjects including sapling propagation, landscaping and waste-to-art resources, senior officials aware of the matter said.

Spread over 57 acres, the 17th century Roshanara Bagh was originally developed by the second daughter of emperor Shah Jahan. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

This will be the second such facility in the Capital, after New Delhi Municipal Council’s school of gardening.

A senior MCD official said development work for the school is expected to be completed in three to four months, adding that construction is currently on hold due to restrictions on construction activities under the graded response action plan (Grap) to tackle air pollution.

“The resource centre and training facility will be initially used to provide training to new recruits, gardeners and horticulture staff from the corporation and other local bodies in the NCR region. It will be a skill upgradation unit as the departmental thrust is on adding more mechanised units for horticulture wings. We plan to offer certificate courses in summer vacations on topics like plant propagation through our newly developed high-tech nursery,” the official said.

The civic body also plans to offer summer courses in gardening for the general public in subsequent phases.

Spread over 57 acres, the 17th century Roshanara Bagh was originally developed by the second daughter of emperor Shah Jahan. Over the last year, the green belt has been at the centre of multiple projects by MCD’s horticulture wing, including the revival of its lake.

MCD’s horticulture department maintains 15,226 of city parks spread over 5172.07-acre area. 90% of these green belts are categorized as ‘housing area parks” and they not only act as breathing space for capitals residents but also provide opportunities for exercise and recreational space.