6,100 plants, species from Jammu & Kashmir to Lakshadweep: how a project on India’s bamboo biodiversity is shaping up on Delhi’s Yamuna floodplains

Under this, plants of more than 53 species have been planted at ‘Bharat Kunj’ Bambusetum spread across 12,000 square metres of land at Baansera on the floodplains. Saxena will inaugurate a musical fountain at the location on Friday.

“Brought from across the country with 40 specimens of each species and arranged in accordance with the map of the country, as many as 2,120 bamboo plants have been planted inside the Bambusetum; 4,068 Monopodial Bamboo species, Melocalamus indicus, have been planted along its periphery,” a senior government official said.

“At its core, this is a pioneering conservation effort designed to shine the spotlight on and protect India’s rich bamboo biodiversity in the heart of Delhi. Numerous species of bamboo are grown together at Bharat Kunj with a well-designed ex-situ conservation approach,” the official added.

Bharat Kunj has been established in the shape of India’s map.

The project has been set up on floodplains land freed from encroachment; work on the initiative kicked off in August 2022.

“The survey team of the department has used modern equipment like Differential Global Positioning System machines to draw the exact shape of India at the site and demarcate the states and the UTs; the North East Biodiversity Conservation and Research Center, Assam, provided the rhizomes or planting material,” the official said.