Hyderabad: In what is building up to become a Christmas gift for chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his native Kadapa district, the state is all set to unveil the Rajiv Eco-Park set up at a cost of Rs 8 crore at Idupulapaya in Vempella mandal during the Xmas celebrations this year.

Sources said the park, carved out of 160 hectares of the reserve forest land, will be inaugurated by the chief minister any day between December 23 and 25, the period when he and his family spends the festive season at their home in Idupulapaya estate every year.

 

According to AP Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) officials, Rajasekhara Reddy is very keen that the park be ready during the time he spends at his estate.

 

As a result, the authorities have been working round-the-clock to ensure that the park is in a state to be thrown open to the public before the deadline set by the chief minister.

 

AP State Eco-Tourism Director P Madhusudhan Rao told TOI that the main attraction of the park would be a botanical garden spread over 55 hectares. “The botanical garden would house more than 10,000 species of flora including exotic and rare saplings, cacti, succulents, orchids, medicinal plants and palms collected from Kerala, Orissa and West Bengal as well as other parts of the country. The garden, which is already in place, will also include a herbal enclosure and a nursery.” he said. The remaining 105 hectares is to be demarcated as the eco-restoration area.

 

“A basement wall rising to a height of 50 cm over a length of 3 km around the restoration area, two check dams for water preservation, seven rock fill dams and a driving path through the area are already constructed,” he said.

 

According to officials, fodder grass would be grown in the eco-restoration area where deer would be released from the adjacent reserve forests.

 

The chief wildlife warden has already given permission for the deer to be released from the forest for grazing in the eco-restoration area during daytime, they said. Apparently, the park was to also house a bird and deer park, but since they could be delayed as they require permission from the central zoo authority and the Supreme Court, the state officials decided to drop the bird park and create a deer grazing area during daytime for the animals to come from the reserve forest area.

 

Rao said that apart from the botanical garden and the eco-restoration area, five cottages, a dormitory and a canteen for the convenience of visitors would come up in the park. Projected to cost Rs 2 crore, these amenities would be executed by the APIIC.