Empress Garden to be turned into a hobby club

Indian Express: The Empress Garden off Race Course, which has been a landmark of the city for over 170 years, is all set to be turned into a hobby club.

“We are working on making the Empress Garden a place for nurturing hobbies. While many already come here for painting, reading and other such creative activities, the hobby club format will make it a platform for everyone to nurture their creative talents,” said Amit Pokarna, trustee, Agro-Horticultural Society of Western India (AHSWI).

The Empress Garden, spread over 39 acres, was created by the British in 1830s. With thick vegetation spread over 40-50 per cent of the area, the garden boasts of nearly 60 species of birds, hundreds of species of rare plants and insects and butterflies. Besides annual activities such as flower shows and conservation-related events that draw a huge response, the garden is a favourite hangout of wildlife lovers, photographers and artists.

“We plan to make use of the landscape to encourage activities related to environment conservation. In fact, the hobby club would include 8-10 experts coming and teaching activities like painting, photography, gardening, pottery and so on. While talks are on with experts, their names will be finalised only after the feasibilities are worked out,” Pokarna said.

While nominal fees will be charged for these courses, Pokarna said the activities would be social and environment-centric, and not commercial. “This is the only garden in the city spread over such a huge area. Gardening and activities such as these perform two functions — provide space for recreation and expose citizens to nature. It is through initiatives such as these that awareness about environment education and education related to ecology and wildlife is encouraged¿ Such initiatives would make this garden a medium to trigger interaction among citizens, between children and nature, which is now limited to television or books.”

With the management working on a hobby club format, Pokarna said the club would be functional only by April this year.

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Also see:

• February 13, 2009 -- Ruhaniyat ‘09, the Sufi music grand finale will be held on February 14 (3)
• January 27, 2009 -- Campaign to save Empress Garden (0)