Guwahati, Oct 2 (PTI) Residents of Assam’s Guwahati get a 59-crore botanical garden built on the land where once a central jail stood.
Spanning an area of 36 bigha (nearly 12 acres), including 2.58 acres of water bodies, the botanical garden has been inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The park has 85,000 plants belonging to more than 230 indigenous species of flora. Also, a dedicated space of around 2.08 acre has been kept for medicinal plants inside the complex.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Sarma on Sunday said, “After the Guwahati Central Jail was shifted to Lokhra, it was initially decided that a shopping mall would be constructed on the vacant land. With the BJP government coming to power in 2016, a decision was reached that a public park should be built.”
The botanical garden will provide a great amount of open space for the residents of Guwahati, he added.
“Rather than being referred to as a park, it has been named botanical garden with the aim of transforming it into a repository of indigenous and rare species of flora of the region,” Sarma said.
Guides shall be deployed in the park so that people belonging to younger generations are introduced to the rich flora heritage of the region, he said.
The chief minister also spoke about the number of ongoing and upcoming projects meant to transform Guwahati into the “Gateway to South-East Asia”.
“The first phase of the river-front development project along the bank of Brahmaputra near Kachari Ghat will be inaugurated very soon. Public parks will be built on the land in Chandmari currently housing the offices of flood control and irrigation,” he said.
Sarma also said that plans are in place to build an urban forest at Borbari, and deliberations are also going on to construct embankments surrounding the Deepor Beel (lake) that will provide cycling and walking spaces for the public.
“The ongoing construction of the inland water terminal near Fancy Bazar on completion will lend a huge boost to the city’s tourism potential and provide an experience similar to the ones available in South-East Asian nations such as Singapore and Malaysia,” he added.
With the aim of securing the life and property of the residents of Guwahati, a surveillance camera project covering the entire city will be launched soon and the cabinet’s nod to spend Rs 250 crore on it has already been given, Sarma said.