President Pratibha Patil inaugurated a Herbal Garden in the premises of the Rashtrapati Nilayam, at Bollarum in Secunderabad on Saturday.
The newly created herbal garden is intended to bring in awareness about the rich heritage and diversity of Medicinal Plants.
This is also to preserve and promote the medicinal values of various plants that grow widely in our surroundings whose properties are beneficial to human beings and maintain a balance between the man and the nature.
The Herbal Garden has 116 species of medicinal and aromatic plants like Sarpgandha, Kalabandha, Citronella, Lemon grass, Khus, Geranium, Coriander, Sandalwood, Tuber rose, Jasmine, Kalmegh, Tulsi, Isbgol, etc. which can be used for natural home remedial cure for a variety of diseases. The Garden is located in an area of about 7000 sq meters.
The Herbal Garden came into being with team work of the CPWD and the AP State Medicinal Plants Board with the funding from Rashtrapati Bhavan and National Medicinal Plants Board. The Garden has also developed annuals, perennials, creepers and shrubs to give it a pleasant and picturesque appearance.
In addition to this, several measures have been taken for conservation of rain water in Rashtrapati Nilayam during the last two years to improve ground water sustainability.
One percolation pond, made with the available stones, has been developed where the rain water is collected and then gets percolated into the subsoil. Three rainwater harvesting pits have also been made for storage and percolation to the ground via filter media. Earlier, the rainwater was used to flow out of the Nilayam premises which is now collected and conserved, resulting in substantial rise in ground water level.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan Nilayam premises now has about 4500 different types of fruit plants like Mango, Sapota, Pomegranate, Guava, Amla, Coconut etc. in an area of about 35 acres of land. Green lawns and landscape area with ornamental shrubs and variety of flowering plants have also come up in an area of about 5 acres. New water sources like bore wells have been developed and existing open wells have been redeveloped for irrigation purpose. For efficient water irrigation, drip irrigation system is coming up shortly.
The President also planted a sapling of Kadamba plant after opening the garden.