Haryana gets its first herbal park

Shiv Kumar Sharma

The first herbal park in Haryana has been developed at the Mukand Lal District Civil Hospital, Yamunanagar. It has more than 100 varieties of plants of medicinal value.

Dr Vijay Dahiya, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, is the brain behind the park. He says that a lot of waste and garbage was being dumped at a piece of land near the postmortem house of the hospital. “The space was at the main entrance of the hospital, so we decided to develop a herbal park there. It will give a soothing feeling to patients and their attendants visiting the hospital. Besides, it will also make them aware of our traditional inheritance of medicinal plants,” he adds.

In the park, small pavements have been made from stones of different sizes, which will provide the benefit of acupressure to people. Various types of plants such as Sarpgandha, Satawari, Kalmagh, lemon grass, Akrakar and Brahmi have been planted there.

“The park was developed drawing inspiration from the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was dedicated to citizens of Yamunanagar by Haryana Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal Gurjar on November 28, 2017,” says Dr Dahiya. A pyramid hut was also constructed in the park with the help of the State Bank of India. Regular yoga and meditation classes are being held in the hut under the supervision of a Yogacharya in the AYUSH Department of the hospital. 

Many people visit the park during the working hours of the hospital. Soothing background music being played in the park makes the environment more pleasing.

Dr Dahiya says that soon a Vita Milk booth will also be started there so that people can enjoy freshly-made herbal tea.

Attendants of patients visit the park during the hospital hours and some of them can be seen enjoying the sunshine. Raman Kumar, attendant of a patient, says that the herbal park on the hospital premises gives a soothing feeling. He praises the administration for establishing the park.

Inspired by Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Waste and garbage was being dumped at a piece of land near the postmortem house of the hospital. The space was at the main entrance of the hospital, so we decided to develop a herbal park there.  It was developed drawing inspiration from the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. — Dr Vijay Dahiya, Medical Superintendent, Mukand Lal District Civil Hospital