Delhi LG Saxena, CM Kejriwal inaugurate Shaheedi Park, India’s first outdoor Waste to Art museum

New Delhi [India], August 8 : Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday inaugurated the MCD’s Shaheedi park- India’s first outdoor museum park weaving the magic of Waste to Art at ITO.
Shaheedi Park is dedicated to the national heroes of India and it showcases the famous personalities who laid down their lives for the independence and sovereignty of the country in different periods. The park is spread over an area of 4.5 acres and comprises a wide variety of attractions that showcase our rich historical and cultural heritage. It houses beautiful motifs, monuments and installations that commemorate important events, prominent individuals and historical periods that shaped our country.
The park was developed at Shaheedi Park, ITO under the "Waste to Art" initiative by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The sculptures have been made from scrap such as old trucks, cars, electric poles, pipes, angle iron and rickshaws etc. collected by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
For the creation of sculptures, 10 visionary artists alongwith 700 artisans worked together and completed the work in just 06 months. Approx 250 tons of scrap is utilized for making sculptures. To enhance the beauty of the park approx 56 thousand trees and shrubs like Champa, Kachnar, Ficus spp., Syngonium etc. have been planted. The 4.5-acre park has been developed with the cost of Rs 15 Crore approx. The park has the provision of souvenirs shop and food kiosk for providing better recreational avenues to visitors. 9 sets and 3 galleries have been developed in the park including 93 2D sculptures and 20 3D sculptures.

LG VK Saxena said that I feel proud to be here. “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Park” is before us today as a new permanent asset in Delhi. On this occasion, he thanked the Government of India, by whom this park has been constructed and developed with a budget of Rs 15 crores.
He said that “under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India has been continuously providing all possible assistance for the rejuvenation and development of Delhi. Like UER, the redevelopment of Delhi's railway stations, the Karkardooma TOD project, all of these will provide unprecedented development opportunities for the people of Delhi. Similarly, Bharat Vandana Park is being developed by DDA in Dwarka at a cost of 560 crores, which will give a new look to the capital.”
“We all need to learn from the unique method of Waste to Wonder that MCD has put before the country. The permanent assets that Delhi is getting through such parks are adding to the beauty of Delhi. MCD is also making efforts to build a similar theme-based park in East Delhi soon, which will be Bollywood based. A glimpse of the country's golden era will also be seen in Shaheedi Park. The fascinating idols of great persons ranging from King Porus, Chanakya-Chandragupt, Emperor Ashoka to Mihir Bhoj and Rajendra Chola are present here.” LG said.
He added that, “This was the period when our country was counted as the best country in the world. At that time, we were not only ahead of other countries in splendor and prosperity, but also in the field of education. Many historians of the world have also mentioned our golden age in their books. Apart from this, information is available here from 1282 to 1763 about Maharana Hamir Dev, Rana Kumbha, Prithviraj Chauhan etc. In the later period, you will come to know about the Maratha Empire's Veer Shivaji to Mahadji Scindia and Sikh Empire's Banda Bahadur to Hari Singh Nalwa.”
“This park is telling the story of the first rebellion of 1857 for independence of the country, mass movement, freedom struggle, culture and social awareness, Swadeshi movement and Satyagraha, independence of India and integration of various princely states. All these developments have been shown very beautifully in this park. There are also shops and food kiosks.” LG further added.
LG concluded, “The G-20 conference is going to be held in Delhi in September and the foreign guests who will come to Delhi during this period will also get a glimpse of it." He urged more and more people to visit this park.
CM Arvind Kejriwal said that, “This is a wonderful park. I congratulate all the officers and staff of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for this wonderful initiative. He said that the foundation stone of this magnificent park was laid by the Lieutenant Governor and within a year this park was prepared, which is remarkable. He further said that the way the country's rich culture and great history is shown in this park is very impressive & inspiring.
CM Kejriwal said that just as people visiting Chandigarh must see Rock Garden, similarly Shaheedi Park will also give a new identity to National Capital Delhi and people will come to see Shahidi Park as they visit Red Fort, Jama Masjid. CM also said that the theme of the park is so inspiring that school children of Delhi will be brought to this park. It will install the spirit of patriotism amongst them. He suggested that entry may be made free for school children.
He also said that the initiative of creating the Shaheedi Park will help augment the revenue of the MCD while promoting the spirit of patriotism amongst school children. While complementing the good works of MCD, CM said that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi should further focus on improving sanitation and eradicating corruption.
He said that the corporation has also started efforts in this direction and these efforts have also yielded positive results as can be seen in the revenue results of the first quarter. The corporation's revenue has increased this year as compared to the first quarter of the last year.
He said that the Corporation has been undertaking many such projects which will increase the revenue of the Corporation and the MCD will come out of the problem of paucity of funds. He said that our aim is to make Delhi a clean and beautiful city and we will definitely achieve this goal with the participation of the citizens.
On this occasion, Mayor Shelly Oberoi informed that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is working from cleaning to beautifying 15,000 parks so that the citizens of Delhi can be provided with the best facilities. She said that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is working to beautify Delhi under the guidance of the Chief Minister so that the citizens can be provided with better facilities along with a better city.