Solar Park at Garden of Five Senses to be re-energized

“The tenders will be floated by next week and the shortlisted private company will run the park for seven years. The expenditure for revival of this park will be worked out at a later stage. The company will be allowed to charge a nominal amount for usage of facilities provided in the park,’’ said an official.

The process of shortlisting a company is going to take six months and the vehicles will be ready for use a month after that,he said.

The Garden of Five Senses is located in Said-ul-Ajaib village near Saket.

“These vehicles used to run at the periphery of the garden area,but due to lack of maintenance they have been lying unused for years. The park also has computer games and exercising cycle machines that also function on solar energy,” said the official.

The aim is to make the garden more attractive for children and promote environment friendly measures.

“The cars,cycles and buses run on photovoltaic plates,which convert sunlight into electricity. We have around 10 solar-powered cycles,two cars and buses. These have not been used since 2007 as they need to be repaired,’’ he said. Solar panels were also installed in the garden for operation of these vehicles.

The Solar Park was started up in 2004 and the operation of all solar-powered vehicles was discontinued in 2007.

The Delhi Tourism also plans to start five theme gardens,including butterfly,herbal,bonsai and fragrance,at the facility.

“It will take us a year to develop them,’’ said an official.

Meanwhile,the Delhi Tourism plans to organise various festivals at the Garden of Five Senses. “We are going to have a qawwali and mushaira festival and an adventure festival this year,’’ said the official.