PWD set to appoint ‘specialised’ agencies to develop green spaces on roads in Delhi

Currently, PWD’s horticulture wing develops such green spaces. “But it has been seen that the work is not up to the mark, and these spaces are also not maintained properly,” the official added.

Officials said that currently, tenders for horticulture-related works of the department are issued division-wise. “To end this culture and beautify roads, the government has decided to float tenders zone-wise (Northwest, North and South zones) so that one agency can carry out both plantation and maintenance work for an entire zone, including developing green spaces on a large scale,” said the official.

Another official said that earlier as well, PWD had restructured its horticulture wing to ensure monitoring and accountability in setting up green patches on the sidewalks, medians and central verges across roads. “But desired result was not seen and thus the need to change the system,” the official added.

Officials said specialised horticulture agencies will be appointed for the 11 PWD circles by March. “The agencies will specialise in gardening and landscaping the roadsides. It will also focus on removing brown patches,” said an official.

Some of the stretches to see such work are Ring Road, Mathura Road, Airport road, Dhaula Kuan, Raj Ghat, Vikas Marg, Mehrauli and others.

Further, PWD plans to set up recycling plants that will convert pruned plant and tree waste into fertilisers.

“This will later be used to plant more trees in other stretches,” said the official.

The official added that PWD also plans to beautify 41 roundabouts by developing green spaces. Besides, the department has appointed consultants to beautify spaces below flyovers and foot overbridges and invited CSR participation, said officials.

Companies such as GMR, Indian Oil Corporation, DLF and others are participating in the CSR initiative to improve stretches such as Azad Market to Inderlok Metro as well as flyovers in Chirag Delhi, Punjabi Bagh, Mukarba Chowk and Karampura, among others.

“Many stretches are set to be handed over to Dalmia, Vedanta, Dixon, Godrej, EaseMyTrip, ONGC and others for upkeep and beautification,” said the official.