Asita East to be made G20 ready

Asita East, a biodiversity park along the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi that had been completely submerged after the floods last month, will be restored and made ready for use during the upcoming G20 summit, officials from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) said.

Even as parts of the biodiversity park are still under water, DDA has started clearing up the area under Asita East for visitors expected during the G20 summit.

Officials said that pumps have been installed to remove water from the upper reaches that is being diverted towards the Yamuna. The island area of the park will then be restored after it is dried.

While it is not one of the main venues for the G20 summit, DDA officials expect that delegates and other visitors may want to visit the area since the lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena had hosted delegates from 11 countries attending the G20 summit-related meetings at Asita East in March.

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Asita East is one of the 10 floodplain revival projects in Delhi along the Yamuna. Officials said that damage done by the floods was less than expected and all the plantations, except ones planted this year, have survived.

“The restoration work is going on and we will be able to get it ready before the G20 summit for any last-minute plans by delegates to visit it,” said Subhashish Panda, DDA vice chairperson.

The total area of Asita East is about 200 hectares, stretching from Old Yamuna Bridge to ITO Barrage on the eastern bank. Of this, 90 hectares is with DDA while the remaining portion is with the Uttar Pradesh government’s irrigation department — which is also being restored by DDA.

“The entire area used to under encroachment till a couple of years ago with jhuggis, illegal commercial animal husbandry and agriculture activities. We got at least 3,000 such jhuggis removed. The area has been repossessed and planned following principles of ecological restoration,” said another senior DDA official.

The biodiversity park has a greenway, ecological zone and wetland. The greenway is about 100-150 metres wide area along Vikas Marg that has been developed as a public zone with open spaces where people can get together. Officials are trying to clear this stretch by the G20 events.