Himayat Baugh to be tagged as Biodiversity Zone!

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, July 19:

The medieval era’s Himayat Baugh is under the possession of the Fruit Research Station (FRS) of Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agriculture University (Parbhani) for the last many decades. Meanwhile, the proposal seeking the tag of Biodiversity Zone for the royal garden developed on sprawling 300 acres or more has gained momentum as the Biodiversity Committee has held its first meeting recently. The committee, however, stressed the need of freeing the garden from encroachments which are existing on all its sides, as a priority.

Earlier, the Umbrella Welfare Foundation filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court. Later on, the High Court ordered the administration concerned to declare Himayat Baugh as Biodiversity Zone. Accordingly, Parbhani’s agriculture university submitted the proposal to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Accordingly, the Biodiversity Committee, under the headship of the AMC administrator A K Pandey, held its first meeting on July 12. The experts present in the meeting held a discussion at length on the protection of the Biodiversity of the royal garden which is on more than 300 acres of land. The measurement of the land has been completed. It has come to the notice of the committee that there is a large number of encroachments on three sides of the Baugh from Aref Colony, Jalal Colony and Uddhavrao Patil Chowk. Hence the committee unanimously decided upon removing encroachments on a priority basis. They stressed making the garden encroachment-free. Besides, the members also suggested constructing a compound wall on all four sides to protect its boundaries.

The AMC has submitted a letter to the district collector along with the decisions taken by the Biodiversity Committee on July 18. The letter suggests completing the process in two weeks as per the court order and then submitting a proposal to the government. After completion of due process by the district collectorate, the agriculture university has to again submit the new proposal before the biodiversity committee for discussion, stated the letter.

Himayat Baugh will probably be the state’s first Biodiversity Project covering more than 300 acres of area. There is one similar project developed on 34 acres of area in Pune, said the sources. If the royal garden is included in the list of heritage sites and places, it will be a feather in the cap of the city and also help boost tourism, apart from getting an opportunity for its proper upkeep.

The royal is home to a large number of 300 to 400 years old trees. There are 120 species of wildlife animals and birds. For the past many years, the alert citizens were active in the mission of saving Himayat Baugh.