The State government is planning to develop a ‘Wind Garden’ in one of the lung spaces that is located either in the city or its vicinity. Unlike the regular parks that provide space for leisure and recreation, the concept of Wind Garden is said to help bring down the temperatures in the vicinities by around 4 degrees Celsius.
Following a decision to develop such a facility, authorities are now mulling over the location of the first Wind Garden in the city. Under consideration are the series of urban forest blocks that have been developed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) in and around the city.
According to the officials who are part of the exercise, though all the urban forest blocks developed recently have been considered, the preference is narrowing down to Sanjeevaiah Park in the heart of the city. Said an official, “The location of the Wind Garden is yet to be finalised and Sanjeevaiah Park is one among the other locations that have been
shortlisted.”
The idea to develop the Wind Garden came up for consideration after Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce.com, tweeted a video of a similar park in Madrid.
Following his tweet, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao directed Urban Development Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar to explore the possibilities of developing a similar facility in the city. “Let’s try this in Hyderabad @arvindkumar_ias Get details and explore our HMDA urban parks for this,” the Minister tweeted.
The Wind Garden has spiral structures of ferns and mosses, which tap the cool breeze above the tree tops and draws it down. As a result, the temperatures inside the lung space and its nearby streets are reduced, according to a video composed by the World Economic Forum. The Forum, also mentioned that the Wind Garden concept is inspired by the ancient Middle Eastern Wind Towers.