Art of living guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, under fire for organising a massive event on the Yamuna floodplain, on Tuesday said his organisation will build a “biodiversity park” in that area and rubbished allegations of ecological harm.
Ravi Shankar told reporters that not a single tree has been cut in the run up to the World Culture Festival to be held on March 11-13 and that four trees have only been trimmed in the riverine area.
“Villagers said that their buffaloes never went near the water in the past. Now, I
have been informed by them that those buffaloes have entered the water. The villagers are very happy.
“We will leave the place after making a biodiversity park there. In the past, our volunteers have brought out 512 tonne of garbage from Yamuna. We have not cut any trees, have just trimmed four. We want a clean Yamuna and we care about the environment,” Ravi Shankar said.