An effort is finally on to breathe fresh life into the Botanic garden in Shibpur, Howrah.
Once an annual must-visit for Calcuttans, many feel the garden is no longer what it once was: a treasure trove of well-cared-for plants and flowers and small creatures.
The natural heritage division of Intach has got the job of doing a clean-up, particularly of the peripheral canal running around the garden, the 24 interconnected lakes, repairing the pump, the sluice gates and the inflow channel from the Hooghly to ensure the free flow of water from the river to the lakes and out.
Intach will do a plantation drive that will include mangroves along the river bank that borders the garden. It will also map the garden and do a survey to take stock of the inventory after the damage wreaked by Cyclone Amphan in 2020.
Intach is undertaking the Rs 6-crore project with CSR funds from HSBC.
“The peripheral canal of the garden is all choked up because effluents from neighbouring factories and sewage from local households have been making their way in through breaches in the boundary wall. A major task is to clean that up and also clean up the lakes. The water quality in the three lakes is really poor. The interconnectedness of the lakes has to be revived and the inflow and outflow of water from the river should be ensured. They are also going to plant indigenous trees in the garden under our guidance. The mangrove plantation along the river bank has to be revived. Earlier, we planted one-foot tall mangrove plants which got washed away during high tide. I have asked them to plant at least five-foot tall trees,” said Botanical
Survey of India director A.A. Mao.
The AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden (IBG) was established in 1787 and is one of the oldest botanical gardens of Asia. Spread over 273 acres and housing approximately 12,000 species of plants, the garden is of great significance for nature conservationists. The garden has a unique water system consisting of 24 interconnected lakes that used to fill up with water from the Hoogly flowing alongside.
However, because of changing flow patterns in the river and the inflow of sewage into the lake system, the lake ecosystem has taken a hit and impacted the overall ecosystem of the garden.
The project will be launched on the garden premises on Wednesday in the presence of officials from the central ministry of environment, forest and climate change, the state government, HSBC India and Intach.
The initiative focuses on the development of an interpretation programme for better outreach and education activities, and will involve close engagement with the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), said G.M. Kapur of Intach Calcutta Chapter.
“As part of the three-year engagement, HSBC India and Intach will undertake interventions in partnership with the BSI that will further the conservation of the AJC Bose Indian Botanical Gardens as an important ecological area, at the same time improve the learning experience of the visitors,” he added.
Aloka Majumdar, global head of philanthropy and head of sustainability, HSBC India, said: “The Indian Botanical Garden is part of the rich heritage of the city, it is a living museum, and we look forward to an impactful initiative engaging with Intach and the Botanical Society of India.”
