These days it’s becoming really difficult to find lush green spaces amidst most overpopulated Indian cities. More and more youngsters of today are spending their time with their gadgets rather than coming out and taking a walk in fresh air. As various kinds of health problems like heart diseases, hypertension, obesity etc. mount, it’s becoming more important than ever to go out for walks if heading to the gym is not your cup of tea.
And that’s where something like the Lucknow Gomti Riverfront comes in. Constantly ranked among the most polluted cities on the planet, Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh in India has been in desperate need for green spaces. And looks like finally a start has been made. This 1500 crore project has involved cleaning up the Gomti river which flows through the city along with ensuring that more than 30 or so nullahs are cleaned and the sewage is not dumped into the river.
The walkway around the river includes well manicured gardens so that you can breath in the fresh air. When the riverfront is fully completed in due course, there would also be facilities like a cycle track, sports fields, a yoga place, an amphitheater with a capacity of about 2000, Lucknow Eye (modelled along the lines of London Eye) and even a ferry facility (starts in December 2016).
Yes, the air is still polluted and the particulate matter in the atmosphere is still in the hazardous zone (335ppm). But then as someone has rightly said, this riverfront could serve to be the green lungs of the city. Or if not maintained well by both the authorities and the general public themselves, then it could be another addition in the long list of failed projects.
Nonetheless, green spaces like these are the need of the hour so that our future generations still have some fresh clean air to breathe in.
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