JOIN USCity's first herbal park to open to public soon
Delhi may get its first full-fledged herbal park soon. Though small batches of medicinal plants are grown in the Yamuna Biodiversity Park of Wazirabad, Noida Botanical Garden and some nurseries, Delhi/NCR lacks a dedicated herbal park of its own.
As a result, such plant parts and extracts have to be brought in from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh where they are grown.
Ayurvedic dispensaries are also short of such essentials perennially. But not anymore as a new herbal park at Ghumanhera, Najafgarh (Southwest Delhi), is nearing completion and may be opened to public soon.
Plans for a herbal park were first announced in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) budget in year 2013-14 and Rs 5 crore allocated for it.
An area of 10 acres was set aside in the border area of Ghumanhera for the park. Officials in SDMC now inform that the park has over 13,000 plants already and awaiting a second batch of plants come this monsoon. “A design prepared with the help of consultants is being implemented on ground and a boundary wall being erected. The park will be complete then,” claims SDMC spokesperson Mukesh Yadav. Along with the park, an Ayurvedic hospital, another first for Delhi, is also being constructed nearby. The hospital will utilise herbal plants from the park to administer to patients.
“The rarest of rare herbs have been procured for plantation with advice from experts,” the spokesperson added, “This will help us in easily accessing the valuable herbs as well as build a gene pool for such species.”
The list includes Ardark (Alpinia calcarata Rosee), Arjan (Terminalia arjuna), Ashvagandha (Withania Somnifera), Bael (Aegle marmelos), Behra (Terminalia bellirica), Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri (L.), Kapur Kachri (Hedychium spicatum Buch), Katha (Acacia catechu), Kaunch (Mucuna puriens), Khatmi (Althea officinalis), Marod Phalli (Helicteres isora) and Kanak champa among many others.
“We will get more herbal plants to grow here as the demand at the ayurvedic hospital arises,” he added.