Educational Tour to Yamuna Biodiversity Park

We started our journey at sharp 9:00 am towards Yamuna Biodiversity Park and we reached there within an hour as traffic was less.

Staff Members of Yamuna Biodiversity Park welcomed us and told us about the importance of protecting nature. They told us that an average human being consumes 400-500 litres of oxygen per day, the cost of which is around 13 lakh rupees per day. The cost of affording oxygen of one year is around 48 crore rupees. If humans will destroy whole wildlife, then there will be no oxygen present naturally. Then in such a scenario, people will have to buy oxygen or die. The prices quoted above are variable. Imagine upto what level the prices of oxygen will shoot up in future, when its demand will be more than the supply. In order to avoid such scenario, we should conserve and protect our nature.

After a brief orientation, two staff members and our teacher accompanied us for sightseeing.

We saw a net house and green house which are used for growing seeds in any season of the year by adjusting the temperature, moisture content and other conditions favourable for the growth of plant accordingly.

In these polyhouses, light passes very slowly or there is less exposure to sunlight, so seeds grow very slowly.

Once the seeds are fully grown, they are passed to nurseries, where they receive more exposure due to direct sunlight and during the monsoon season they are planted.

Next we saw Palash Tree and its flowers were bright red in colour and its flowers looks like flame from long distance, that is why it is also called as "Flame of the Forest". Its flowers comes just before the occasion of Holi. So, in earlier times its flowers were used in the preparation of holi colours.

Afterwards, we saw Khus Tree, which is used for making Sharbat which is a great drink for taking releif in summers and then we saw pugmarks of pig which appeared fresh as the soil was wet. Pugmarks are used to determine the type of animal, age, sex, size and other characteristics of animals. Moreover, we also saw pugmarks of dog. If pugmark forms ciruclar shape, then it is of male and if it forms oval shape, then it is of female. Pugmarks of an adult are more closer to the ground as compared to that of child.

Then we saw excreta of Indian Heir, which was circular in shape and when our instructor pressed and broke down the excreta of Indian Heir then he indicated that it contained Pologorus grass, which is the main food of Indian Heir.

We also saw Silver Bill, a tiny creature which is brown in colour and it belongs to a family of sparrows.

More than a decade ago, Yamuna Biodiversity Park was a barren land and its soil was salty and clayey. The barren land was converted into fertile land by the process of phytoremediation. It is a process of converting unfertile land into fertile land by organically planting saplings and no chemicals are used in this process. One of the guide, told us to taste that plant and its taste was salty just like a namkeen (sounds a bit snacky). The purpose of that plant was to absorb salt from soil and make it fertile.

Then we saw grasslands. Our guide told us that in Mesopotanium Civilization, wheat was a wild grass afterwards it was domesticated. Both wheat and rice are grown in grasslands.

Next, we saw an egg of insect on a leaf which was yellow in colour.

Then we saw Karonda Tree and there were overripe Karondas, which were bright red in colour. Karondas reduces the effect of snake bites and increases blood level in the body.

We saw a very interesting creature there, it was a dung eater. It makes small balls of excreta of other animals and then it eats those substances of excreta which are harmful to soil and then it decomposes the leftover excreta in the soil to make the soil fertile and it also lays eggs in it, which protects eggs from harsh conditions outside. Babies comes out of excreta in rainy or monsoon season. So, this creature is working not only for its own selfish interest, but also for the nature.

Then we saw Meswak Tree, which is also called Pila. It is the feeding plant of butterfly, because it helps in laying eggs and feeding pupa. It is also used for the preparation of Meswak toothpaste.

We saw Khejri Tree, which is mostly found in dry areas as it needs less water to grow. It is called "Tree of Life" in Rajasthan because people make flour out of it and eat it. Bishnoi Tribe started Chipko Movement for the protection of Khejri Tree.

Afterwards, we saw plantations of brinjal and pomegranate. We also saw Kaitha Tree and its leaves are sour in taste and it is used for making chutney.

Then we came across an insect which was sucking juice from China Rose, also known as Hibiscus and then we also saw larvae developing in leaf of Castor Tree.

Then we also came across Euporbia Tree, which is used in the preparation of bio-fuel.

There was a Fish Palm Tree whose leaves are in the form of fish's fins. Its leaves are used for making strong ropes, that one can even tie an elephant with the help of it. The ropes are widely made in South India.

Gunthi Tree's fruit is orange in colour and it is helpful for the treatment of mouth ulcer.

There was a Guvava Tree, which bears guvavas of one kilogram each.

Then we came across modified hair of an animal which had sharp edges and he uses to protect himself with the help of it.

Massive area was covered by Wetlands, which was around 7 acres. Wetland acts as a natural sponge, it absorbs water during rainy season and when there is shortage or paucity of water, it recharges ground water. There we saw Lilies and Purple Heroin, which belongs to the family of Bablo and there were also more than 20 species of fish. That place was rich in biodiversity because two different ecosystems were meting each other i.e. acquatic and terrestrial ecosysytems. Wetlands are also used for agricultural purposes.

Kuthea Tree is a good antioxidant, increases blood level and improves digestion. Its leaves are also used in the preparation of paan.

There was an Eucalyptus Plant, which decreases water level and it is highly acidic. But it is planted underneath a tree, because when leaves falls from tree on it, then leaf is salty because the nature of soil of that place is salty. So, when leaf of salty characteristic falls on Eucalyptus, which is highly acidic, then it becomes neutral.

Afterwards, we saw a short documentary, which revealed that during Mughal and Pre-British Era, Delhi was a beautiful place due to presence of Yamuna River and Aravallis. But, when Britishers moved their capital from Calcutta (presently known as Kolkata) to Delhi, then Delhi became the centre and then urbanisation, industralisation started and the environment started degradaing and presently Delhi is considered as one of top polluted cities due to aggresive human interfernce in nature. So, it is high time that we should take immediate measures to protect our city, our state, our nation and our one and only planet Earth, where human life exists so far.