MCG’s Aravali park plan draws fire

Gurgaon: An MCG proposal to construct an interpretation centre at the Aravalli Biodiversity Park has drawn flak from evnironmentalists. The NGO maintaining this park has said it has not been consulted on this project and asserted that the park should be treated as a forest.
An interpretation centre is a sort of information kiosk that provides details about the flora and fauna of a forest reserve.
"While having an interpretation centre is not a bad idea, the vision for this park needs to be constant. At present, this vision seems to be changing with every MCG commissioner who assumes office. One cannot be playing around with it as this park is actually a forest and should be treated like a forest," said environmentalist Latika Thukral of NGO ‘I AM Gurgaon'.
"The MCG has not discussed any such idea with us and while it good to have an interpretation centre, this park should not be turned into picnic spot. It is a forest and should be treated properly," she added.
Other green activists also said the MCG authorities should be careful and ensure the park is not commercialised. "Apart from this interpretation centre, I have learnt that there is a plan to open a restaurant as well inside the biodiversity park. I don't think we need one more restaurant in a city where there are already so many of them," said Chetan Aggarwal, an environmentalist.
Vijay Dhasmana, who has been working on reviving this park, also slammed the idea of a café at the park.
"There is a need for an interpretation centre and the idea is good as it will help people to know what all species are there. There are many endangered species which we have brought back to this forest and apart from this, there are medicinal plants and several others species which should be interpreted in a way that people understand," he said.
"However, the café diluted the wilderness aspect of it and the effort that is gone into reviving this park," Dhasmana added.
The MCG authorities, however, claimed they will consider feedback from various quarters before finally giving a go-ahead to the project.
"We have sought feedback from residents and I can assure you that nothing will be done that will spoil this park. We will keep in mind all that needs to be done to maintain the pristine nature of this park," said a senior official.