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The Supreme Court-Appointed Committee has permitted construction of a stretch of the proposed Delhi-Alwar RRTS (Rapid Rail transit system) corridor under the Aravalli Biodiversity Park and the extended ridge area.
Important points:
- The committee observed that the project is in public interest and since the proposed rail corridor will run 20 metres below the ground, trees will not have to be cut.
- There will be no construction on the surface in the Morphological Ridge area.
- A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance.
- The Aravalli ridge areas, which are essentially extensions of the Aravalli ranges and extend over 7,000 hectares in Delhi, are considered the lungs of the capital (Delhi).
- It is a 164-km rapid rail corridor, which will be a mix of elevated tracks and tunnels. It is slated to be implemented in three phases.
- A 3.6-km stretch of the corridor is supposed to pass below the extended or ‘morphological’ ridge in South Delhi.
- 7-km of the 3.6-km stretch under consideration will pass below the Aravalli Biodiversity Park near Vasant Kunj, Delhi.
Significance
- It is expected to reduce travel time between these places to 117 minutes – a little less than two hours.
- It is expected to improve the air quality in Delhi/NCR (National Capital Region), because the share of public transport is expected to increase.
- Road traffic congestion is expected to ease with a better transport network and the project is expected to address regional connectivity issues and develop an efficient multimodal transport system connecting Delhi-NCR with road, rail and air.
Aravalli Biodiversity Park
- It is developed on 699 acres of land located in South Delhi near Vasant Vihar.
- The area is highly degraded due to past mining and infested with Prosopis juliflora (an Invasive Shrub).
- The biodiversity of Delhi is nearly extinct.
- The prime objective of ABP is to bring back the lost biodiversity of Delhi Aravallis. The other objective of ABP is to promote nature education among students and create environment awareness among the public.
- It is also helping in preserving the threatened medicinal plants of the Aravallis.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT
