Gr Noida to develop eco park akin to forest reserves in Paris

The Greater Noida authority on Thursday said it has decided to develop an eco park across 2,500 acres on the lines of forest reserves at Paris in France.

According to a published media report, the park is proposed to be developed inside three forest reserves — on 803 acres in Surajpur, 743 acres in Gulistanpur and 1,112 acres in Murshadpur.

A team of officials comprising Sanjeev Saran, principal secretary of forest department, Deepak Agarwal, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Greater Noida authority and HV Girish, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Gautam Budh Nagar, had visited Paris for five days.

The team returned on June 19 and will use the Paris models of forest reserves for developing the eco park in Greater Noida, said the report.

“We visited five forest reserves in Paris. Each forest reserve has a core area, buffer zone, regulated area and community area. Visitors can go to the community areas to enjoy the greenery. With community involvement in forest reserves, we can effectively work for conservation of our green areas,” Deepak Agarwal said.

Development of the eco park as the biggest oxygen bank in Gautam Budh Nagar is a high-priority project as Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister of UP, had announced the project to combat rising pollution.

Following the CM’s instructions, the authority allocated Rs136 crore for the park.

“Budget is not an issue for this project as the authority can expand it if required. We will finalise the detailed project report for this project and get environmental clearances before starting work on the ground,” Agarwal said.