journal d'une transition

1136

It is therefore extremely important that all helps are contributed unstintingly to make this opportunity the means of a realisation that will have lasting validity.

The Inner Gardens are enclosed in an area of oval shape, 360 metres at its longest axis East to West and 290 metres at its shorter axis North to South, which is to be circumscribed by a continuous channel of water dug in a V section of 5 to 6 metres deep and 10 to 12 metres wide, overflowing into several ponds and percolation pits. We plan to make maximal use of sprinklers monitored by an automated system, combined with a drip-irrigation system for deep-rooting plants and shrubs. We find this solution to be optimal in terms of waste control, provided all its parts are sturdy, easy to maintain and the central monitoring is fairly safe and simple to operate. Around the oval area of the Inner Gardens, with its encircling water-channel, are the Outer Gardens. Their outward limit is fixed at a radius of 290 metres from a centre equidistant to the Matrimandir, the Amphitheatre and the Banyan Tree. These Outer Gardens, or Park, will act as a buffer and a transitional space between the city and the area of silence around the Matrimandir and protect the more elaborate Inner Gardens with a denser belt of high trees. About a quarter of the area has already been landscaped and planted over the last 20 years, experimenting with hundreds of species. The intent here is to manifest a representation as wide as possible of the earth’ trees, letting them establish their symbiosis by choosing carefully the position of each in relation to the others, according to their typical shapes, natural needs and behaviour, density of foliage, the colour of their blooms, their seasonal rhythms, etc. An important role will be given to all the varieties of palm trees, along with many different creepers, a large range of which we have already introduced and developed in the Matrimandir Nursery, as well as a large number of acclimated orchids.” (Note: this text was followed by a detailed cost and time estimate, running several pages. We had included a section regarding H.K’s proposal of a huge lake as the main feature of a very large-scale project aiming at, basically, turning the higher aquifer below Auroville as Auroville’s water-storage. We had not had the time as yet to really examine that proposal for its own merits, but we had serious doubts regarding its soundness, not to mention the impacts such a massive interference would have on the actual physical reality of the underground. And of course we could see how this project would allow Roger A to be rid of the entire Park area and gain unobstructed view of the Matrimandir from the city, while claiming that this would have to be done for the sake of Auroville’s very survival, not for the sake of his design!) …

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