BEAUTIFICATION PLAN OF BMC
Locals upset over Mazgaon garden revamp …..Sukhada Tatke I TNN
Mumbai: Forty-year-old Cyrus Batliwala still remembers those early mornings, when as a child, he would climb up the Mazgaon hill, his little hand held tightly by his grandmother. He befriended the birds that twittered about the cool morning breeze as he jogged along the edge of the garden atop the hill. Cycas, ixora, musanda, bougainvillea, hibiscus were the words he learnt as the trees felt the first nip of winter in the open garden.
Now, after all those years, he still visits his favourite John Baptista garden but laments its current sorry status. No longer is he able to take walks on the path that he knows so wellthe BMC has dug up a huge part of it for the development of the garden, which is more than 150 years old. In fact, it is the forerunner of the Hanging Garden at Malabar Hill.
The excavation is part of the civic bodys hydraulic departments plan to beautify gardens that are set up on reservoirs. The new plan of the beautification process that costs about Rs 5.34 crore includes installing a fountain, planting more trees and building walking tracks. The civic body also plans to have a cafeteria.
However, according to residents, the garden was not in a rundown state in the first place, for it to undergo such a major transformation. Several old plants will be destroyed in the process and along with them, the gardens old-time charm, they said.
They have uprooted many plants that may have survived for so many years now. If they want to develop the garden, why destroy the existing one? asked Batliwala. The walking tracks were natural, of soil. Now they want to pave the tracks, which is not suitable for jogging or walking. Instead of damaging the garden, they could have carried out systematic planning. The iron grilles and gates that were there were of very high quality. Throwing them away and replacing them is unnecessary expenditure.
There is no use of having such grand plans at the cost of the trees and shrubs that are already in a good condition. All these uprooted shrubs have been chucked in one corner. They were not even dying and this was the treatment given to them, said
David Mendonsa, another oldtime resident of the area, for whom the garden has been a favourite haunt for years. In fact, there are seven to eight schools in the area and many children come here. Senior citizens, too use the garden regularly. Now, with most of it closed to the public, every body is crammed up in the smaller area.
David Mendonsa, another oldtime resident of the area, for whom the garden has been a favourite haunt for years. In fact, there are seven to eight schools in the area and many children come here. Senior citizens, too use the garden regularly. Now, with most of it closed to the public, every body is crammed up in the smaller area.
However, Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav who has undertaken this project, said the garden would be ready within nine months. We are touching it up only to make it better for people. If they have grievances, they should come and talk to us, he said.
(some names have been changed)
(some names have been changed)
NOT SO GREEN AFTER ALL: The BMC has dug up a huge part of the John Baptista garden and also uprooted several trees for its development plan