G20 park, over 100,000 flower pots on streets: MCD's plans ahead of Summit

From developing a thematic park to sprucing up the city with improved amenities, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has planned to deck up the national capital with just a month to go for the G20 meet

From developing a thematic park to sprucing up the city with improved amenities, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has planned to deck up the national capital with just a month to go for the G20 Summit.

India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1 last year, following which about 200 meetings were scheduled under different tracks. The Summit is slated to take place from September 9-10.

"We have planned a number of things to spruce up the city and improve civic amenities ahead of the Summit.

We are planning to place more than one lakh flower pots at various prominent locations, extra dustbins will be kept in streets to control littering at key location and markets," a top official in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said.

The civic body will also develop a 'G20 park' in an existing park to commemorate the G20 Presidency of India, he said. The G20-theme park will be developed in the premises of a park in M-Block of Greater Kailash-2.

"This thematic park will have the logo of the G20 made in an artistic style, besides other artworks," the official said.

'Shaheedi Park', which has been redeveloped as an open-air museum park with scrap-made sculptures of freedom fighters and other heroes of India, was inaugurated on August 8 and opened to the public a day later.

The redevelopment of the 'Shaheedi Park' was also taken up as part of the civic projects ahead of the G20 summit. The park in the ITO area is located near the Pragati Maidan, which houses a recently-inaugurated state-of-the-art convention complex, which will be the venue of the G20 Summit.

The 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit in Delhi will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies.

"A G20 Leaders' Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit, stating leaders' commitment towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial and working group meetings," according to the G20 website.

From big metros to smaller cities, including those rich in history and scenic beauty such as Hampi and Khajuraho, India has planned to host the G20 meetings at these 55 locations across the country during its year-long presidency.

In Delhi, other civic projects undertaken include beautification work at the Mahipalpur roundabout, which is close to the airport, and development works at a market near PVR Anupam cinema hall. Signage and display boards will be put up to improve the look-and-feel of the city.

Wall painting themed on G20 were done at various locations across the city, but due to rains, at present, no new wall painting is being planned, the official said.

Sites or roads affected due to recent flooding in parts of the city are being cleaned by the MCD. Restoration work, of any required of such sites, is to be done by public works department or the Delhi Development Authority, he added.

Besides, roads leading to and from prominent venues will be cleaned regularly with the help of 52 Mechanical Road Sweeping Machines (MRSMs), jetting and sprinkler machines, the official said.