new delhi east delhi municipal corporation edmc has started work on creating a sevenacre recreational spacecumsports facility in the middle of the congested mandawali village in east delhi the place will be thrown open to the public on february 28locally known as talab park edmc has decided to revive the waterbody first which was covered by people a long time ago the project also includes developing badminton and basketball courts green lawn and separate playing area for children on the rest of the portionafter receiving rs 11 crore from gautam gambhirs mplad fund we have started work on developing the sportscumrecreation facility on 72 acres of dr hedgewar park in mandawali village the park was lying in a shambles for the past 15 years with broken boundary walls and no plants said edmc horticulture director raghwendra singhcurrently edmc workers are digging the land to revive the pond especially after national green tribunals direction to rejuvenate all waterbodies across delhi the rest of the park would be divided into three parts the first part would be developed as badminton basketball and volleyball courts the second part as a childrens playing area with seven types of swings and third as a green lawn with gazebos for senior citizensthe depth of the waterbody will be around 10 feet and we will install a 50 kld sewage treatment plant to supply water to the pond the stp will treat sewage from the neighbouring drains at least 40 benches will be installed in addition to two gazebos one in the childrens playing area and another in the open lawn said singhofficials aim to make the facility operational within 3035 days the park was transferred to us by dda in 1989 and political rallies used to take place there earlier regular maintenance was always an issue considering the lack of green space the demand for a lush green park and playing facility for children was always there said an officialafter levelling the area the horticulture department would start planting saplings and flowers and making hedges footpaths and other infrastructure