Operation
The proposed ten-acre Environmental Center will look like a sustainable farm and will consist of a visitor's center, an Ayurvedic herb botanical garden, a vegetable garden, fruit groves, grain crops, a livestock barn, a recycling center, an operational plant and a model residential area. Knowledgeable staff will host guided tours through the property, and paths and educational signage will identify the plants and methods being used.
The Center's primary focus will be to demonstrate simple practices that any person can do to care for the environment, including:
- Composting – what to preserve, how to use it
- Conserving – how to use water, fuel, and space efficiently
- Recycling – separating garbage, working towards zero waste
- Planting and propagating- simple medicinal plants, herbs, shrubs and trees and avail the seedlings to visitors to cultivate in their own homes.
- Sanitation – keeping spaces clean, sewage management, disease preventing measures
- Managing and feeding animals, deterring pests
- Inexpensive, accessible eco-friendly householder technology will be in use and on display:
- Solar energy alternatives
- A Bio-gas system
- Water filtration mechanisms
- Waste management systems
- Green building material for homes
Advanced farm technology will be in use and on display, including:
- Well and rainwater capture
- Drip irrigation
- Windmill
- Solar technology
- Water storage and filtering
Farming techniques will be demonstrated, including
- Pest Control: natural alternatives to pesticides
- Fertilizer: Non-synthetic options
- Permaculture: Crop rotation
- Seed preservation
The Center will grow regionally relevant plants, including:
- Ayurvedic herbs
- Optimum grain varieties
- Indigenous trees and hedges
Next to Amrit Sagar, a sister project is underway known as the Ganges Green Belt, a band of property that was formerly a flood plain to be zoned as a riverfront esplanade starting at the Amrit Sagar property and extending northward along the river for at least one kilometer (and possibly up to seven kilometers in length). The Green Belt is being funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and will be synergistic in engaging the public in appreciating the environment.
|
