Hyderabad will soon be ringed by nature parks

The city could be surrounded by a garland of green spaces in the coming days, offering ample space, abundant fresh air, and opportunity to shed those extra kilos, for hobbyists, walkers and residents in the proximity.

In the coming six months, the Forest Department is planning to launch about 10 nature parks at various locations on the city fringes, for visitors, children, trekkers and bicyclers. This is in line with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s instructions for development of lung spaces for urban dwellers, officials from the department said.

 30 fores blocks

While the parks will function much in the same way as the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park, with restricted entry and nominal fee, national park status will not be obtained for the new ones, as it could delay the future development projects, they said. There are about 30 forest blocks in city’s proximity.

Already, two such parks, namely, ‘Bhagyanagar Nandanavanam’ in Narepally on the Warangal highway, and ‘Sanjeevini Vanam’ in Gurramguda have been thrown open to the public.

Locations where the rest of the parks could be coming up include Domnair, Gundiguda, Kandlakoya, Dulapally, Vanasthalipuram, Bowrampet, Gajularamaram, Nagaram, Turkayamjal, Medchal, and Suraram. Area of each park could range between 100 acres and 700 acres.

Part of the ‘Mahaveer Harina Vanasthali National Park’ at the Vanasthalipuram and the forest land at Dulapally will be used to develop nature parks there.

Something for everyone

Natural vegetation already existing in the blocks will be encouraged, and fenced off with a compound wall. An earthen walking track and another track for cycling will be laid along the wall inside, besides landscaping at the entrance. Rest-shelters, bench-seating, drinking water, and wash-room facilities will be provided, apart from sign-boards and labelling of trees. Each park will have an education centre with library, auditorium and interpretation hall, and a nature camp shed for children and Yoga enthusiasts, the official said.

“Allowing people into these spaces will increase the sense of responsibility and control encroachments, as witnessed in the case of KBR Park,” the official said.

Tentative launch of the park at Domnair is scheduled in December, while the same for the one at Dulapally is in January next year. Nagaram and Kandlakoya parks could be launched in February next. One park in Gurramguda could be launched in a month, while the second is scheduled for March 2016.

The park at Vanasthalipuram too may be launched in three months.

Other than these parks, five forest blocks within three km from the Outer Ring Road, respectively at Eliminedu, Guttala Kancha, Kongarakhurd, Kongara Kalan and Saaloni Dibba, will be developed as adventure sports locations for youth.

Source : The Hindu