Soon,40-acre Ayurvedic garden with Ramdev touch

“In a discussion with Baba Ramdev’s team,we selected 120 varieties of herbal plants which are medicinal and can easily be grown at home. Baba Ramdev and his team will be paid consultants for the project,” Environment Secretary J K Dadoo says.

On the banks of Yamuna,Garhi Mandu is next to the proposed Wazirabad Signature Bridge,tipped to be a major tourist attraction.

In keeping with the tourist-friendly nature of the herbal garden,it will have an educational and interpretation centre,which is being planned by the Department of Environment.

The sales from the plants are expected to make the garden financially self-sufficient. “Usually,for Ayurvedic medicines we get powders or juices. Here,we are offering the real thing — a plant which is as fresh as it can get,” Dadoo says.

Meanwhile,even as the banks of Yamuna along Garhi Mandu are being greened,trees will be felled for the Wazirabad Signature Bridge.

Recently,Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit did a spot inspection of the area and stressed on “development”. “As development takes place,some trees have to be cut. The Wazirabad Bridge will be made by a group of German architects and will create an ambience here which is not even conceivable right now. It will raise the profile of this area massively,” she said. “You can say that this forest we are planting here is something like compensatory forestation.”

However,sources in the Environment Department said the number of trees to be cut will be “much lower” than the 2,000 trees,which were to be axed in the original proposal. Due to the large number of trees involved,the bridge’s clearance was waiting for a last word from the Chief Minister.