Amidst a prudently planned park, fairly green, there is a pond that stinks, but it sustains too. Viman Nagar’s Udaan Biodiversity Park situated at the CCD Chowk is a wonder in disguise. Also known as Udaan Jaiv Vividhata Garden, the park was established in 2012 by Zensar Foundation in collaboration with Pune Municipal Corporation. Here there are a total of 273 species of plants and 8 species of endangered plants. Arranged in an organized manner, it is a biodiversity hub in the middle of a heavily populated and chaotic area. People are allowed to pluck flowers and leaves as well as take the vegetables and spices grown in the park straight to their kitchen. But what is even more fascinating about this little patch of greenery is it makes a difference. In the middle of the park there lies a pond. This pond collects all the dirty grey water passing through Viman Nagar sewage system. The pond which is the lifeline of the park is built using the boulders in the park. The pipe keeps collecting untreated water throughout the day. Using a combination of eco-remediation processes involving a filter system the polluted foul-smelling water is treated and made reusable. It takes around 3 to 4 hours to treat all the water the pond can hold. After the process is over, the water is immediately delivered to the plants planted within the garden. It is done through the well-built drip irrigation system in the park. The park receives guidance from a team of ecologists allocated by the Zensar Foundation. The team is led by Prerna Agarwal who is an ecologist and founder of Ecological Consultant. Out of all three parks present in Viman Nagar, Udaan Biodiversity is the only one that runs such a sustainable system of the water treatment plant and also reuses it in the most eco-friendly way possible.
10 Feb 2022
Purnima Priyadarsini
