KARACHI, Jan 11: According to the master plan for the development of the race course gardens the race course ground will be turned into the first botanical garden in the country through a joint venture by the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and the Horticulture Society of Pakistan (HSP).

The plan was unveiled at the project site here on Saturday. On the occasion Corps 5 Commander Lt-Gen Tariq Waseem Ghazi urged the Karachiites to come forward and contribute in the shape of ideas, funds, time and resources.

He said that the 120-acre garden would be completed in three to five years at a cost of Rs1 billion to be generated from the public and corporate sectors.

He said he was grateful to Prince Disnadda Diskul of Thailand for his generous assistance to develop an orchid pavilion and for donating over 200,000 orchids and other tropical plants for the park. He stressed that historical and culturally important buildings in the city be preserved and nobody be allowed to vandalize those architectural gems.

Other speakers on the occasion said that the 120-acres were earlier used as a race course and after they were relocated a few years back there were many proposals as to how that precious land could be used. But the army gave it as a gift to the recreation-starved citizens of the city many of whose open spaces, parks and grounds had been encroached upon by greedy builders, land mafia and other vested interests.

They said that gardens and greenery were the lungs of any ecological system and were necessary for the very existence of human beings as trees provided food, shelter, medicines and clothes, and above all they gave oxygen to live on.

They said that unplanned industrialization causing emission of poisonous smoke and chemical waste water had made air and water unfit for human consumption and massive deforestation had made the situation even worse.

They said the botanical garden would be very important from the eco-tourism and cultural point of view, and the place would also become a training centre for future botanists and horticulturists. It would also have a most comprehensive tissue culture laboratory and a reference library.

They said the race course park would also have an information technology university which would provide a unique campus environment with research and development facilities.

They said a software park having its own infrastructure facilities like telephone exchange, dedicated optic fibre lines and power generation system would also be developed. An elevated mono-rail would also ply in the park.

They said an approximately one kilometre-long food and folk street would be developed along the old race course road. The pedestrianized street would have indoor and outdoor restaurants and people would be able to see artisans and craftsmen working and displaying their crafts.

They said that various clubs — health club, squash courts, swimming — would also be developed. An equestrian club would also be established in the southern area of the park for the riding enthusiasts.

They said that over Rs70 million had been invested in the project so far and it would be completed in three to five years depending on the how quickly the funds were generated.

They said if enough funds were generated from various sections there would be no entrance fee. However, if the funds generated were not sufficient for maintenance, then a partly amount might be charged.