Chandigarh December 8- About 420 acres of Biodiversity Park will be developed in 3 villages namely Damdama, Khedla and Abhaypur of Gurugram district and Damdama lake will be restored in about 80 acres.
This huge project of about 500 acres was formally started by Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal and Union Minister for State, Sh. Rao Inderjit Singh today after Deputy Commissioner Sh. Nishant Kumar Yadav, who is the Chairman of Gurujal and also Joint Secretary of Haryana State CSR Trust, signed a tripartite agreement with EY Foundation.
The project will be jointly developed by Gurujal, Haryana CSR Trust and EY Foundation. For this, in the presence of the Chief Minister and Union Minister for State, Bala Chandra Raja Raman, President of the organization, signed the agreement on behalf of the EY Foundation. After this, Deputy Commissioner, Sh. Nishant Yadav and Sh. Raja Raman exchanged the documents.
On this occasion, in the programme organized in village Damdama, apart from the project of reconstruction of Biodiversity Park and Damdama Lake, an exhibition was also organized on the activities being carried out for water conservation of Gurujal Society, which was observed by the Chief Minister and Union Minister for State.
Villagers of Damdama, Abhaypur and Khedla village also attended the programme and honoured Chief Minister and Union Minister for State by presenting traditional turbans and saplings.
Village Damdama and the surrounding area will be made the centre of attraction for tourists
Addressing the programme, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the government is making efforts to make this area a centre of attraction for tourists. He has come to the village Damdama for the second time this year. Earlier, he had come to inaugurate adventure sports in Damdama. Now, apart from environment and water conservation, we have come to launch the project of biodiversity.
He said that due to biodiversity, it is necessary to worry about the animals living with us because this earth and nature are not only for humans but for animals too.
Everyone should make good use of the available clean water
Calling upon everyone to save water, the Chief Minister said that each one of us has to manage the utilization of available water and make good use of it, otherwise, future generations will have to face the scarcity of water.
Sh. Manohar Lal said that the underground water level is continuously depleting and if it continues to decrease, there will be a shortage of water in future. That's why everyone has to be aware and do their part in saving and harvesting water. This is not a political issue, but a matter related to life, so everyone should work jointly to save water and plant more and more trees, he added.
“We can use treated water for agriculture, irrigation etc. Now double water pipe line is being laid in the new colonies, in which clean drinking water will come in one line and treated water will be supplied in the other. Treated water will also be supplied in industries,” added Sh. Manohar Lal.
EY Foundation will spend Rs 70 crore on the development of Biodiversity Park and Lake. In the coming time, efforts will be made to spend at least one thousand crore rupees for CSR in the state, in the last one year Rs 542 crore was spent.
“We have formed the Haryana CSR Trust to motivate companies to spend their CSR funds in the right way in social works. In the last one year, companies have spent Rs 542 crore for CSR in the state through this trust,” added Sh. Manohar Lal.
He said that in the future, he would call upon the companies to invest at least one thousand crore rupees in the state through CSR. This money will be spent on the environment, water conservation, health and education. The Chief Minister also appreciated the work of the Gurujal team for doing commendable work in the field of water conservation.
Jungle Safari will be developed on 10,000 acres in Gurugram and Nuh districts
The Chief Minister said that apart from the development of a Biodiversity Park and Lake, it is also proposed to make a jungle safari in about 10,000 acres in the Aravalli hills in Gurugram and Nuh districts. This will also promote tourism and employment opportunities will be available to the people.
The present government has started a campaign to save water, Protecting and restoring lakes is need of the hour, Rao Inderjit Singh
Earlier, Union Minister for State, Rao Inderjit Singh, who was present as a special guest, said that Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi had started a campaign to save water across the country, which has been taken forward by Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal in Haryana.
The present government has started a campaign to save water, Protecting and restoring lakes is the need of the hour, added Sh. Rao Inderjit Singh.
Expressing concern over the depleting groundwater level, Sh. Rao Inderjit Singh also emphasized on conservation and storage of water. He also praised the Gurujal team.
President, EY Foundation Bala Chandra Rajamohan said in his address that his company does not come under the ambit of CSR but is voluntarily spending on this project. He shared that cooperation of institutions like TERI, SIDAR, IIT, Columbia University etc. will be taken in developing the project.
Biodiversity Park will be developed in 4 phases
This project will be developed in four phases. In the first phase, along with studying the plants and soil of the area, the construction of a nursery and cleaning of the lake will be done.
In the second phase, watershed management and tree plantation will be started, in the third phase the lake will be developed and in the fourth phase, the plantation will be done. He said that the renovation of Damdama Lake would be completed in four years and the work of developing Biodiversity Park would be completed in 10 years.
Sohna MLA, Sh. Sanjay Singh along with other dignitaries remained present on this occasion.