28.3.14

Somewhere in Navi Mumbai....

The hills of Kharghar – currently scarred and scoured by quarry owners and scalped of its green cover by tree-fellers – are going to be turned into an idyllic nature park complete with hiking paths and biking trails. A massive afforestation drive is afoot here by CIDCO and the state forest department to create a second nature park for the metropolis. At present, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali is the only city forest in the country. When CIDCO develops the Kharghar hills, Navi Mumbai too can boast of a city forest, a CIDCO official said.
The hills belong to CIDCO and the state forest department. “We will create nature trails and have a group of mountaineers to take people around on hikes. Tracks for mountain bikes will also be created,” Praveen Pardeshi, principal secretary of the state forest department told Mumbai Mirror.
The Pandavkada waterfalls in the area, where many a picnicker has met his death, will be made safer and flanked by three shallow pools, while a check dam will ensure the waterfall itself does not dry up by December, and keeps going until at least March.
The financial model for the forest is yet to be worked out, he said. But Chief Conservator of Forests K P Singh said indigenous fruit-bearing trees would be planted in the blank patches so that tribals residing in the hamlets in the area can earn a living. 

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