RESIDENTS ADOPT NEGLECTED PLOT, MAKE IT A LUSH, GREEN PARK
Members of the Mount Mary/ Kane Road ALM had to fight a long-drawn battle to protect 4,000-sq feet Sukoon Park on Mount Mary Road, Bandra (west) from encroachment and beautify it.
The plot was reserved as a park in the Development Plan, but it lay as a neglected piece of land for a long time. Taking advantage, a hawker who had a tea stall on the road outside tried to build a structure on the plot and bar entry to local citizens, said Maria Dsouza, a retired teacher and ex-chairperson of the ALM.
The hawker was eventually evicted when the road became a no-hawking zone in 2004. But pursuing the matter with local ward officials has been very difficult, she said.
The ALM applied for the adoption of the park under the old adoption policy in 2000, but it took two years for the BMC to give the go-ahead.
The ALM then got aid from a private sponsor to develop the park. The park was beautified by planting saplings and a flowerbed. Once the park was taken up for beautification, many likeminded people in the locality joined in for its daily upkeep, said Dsouza.
The ALM used funds from the sponsor to light the park last year. A gardener has also been hired to take care of the flowerbeds and to ensure the park stays clean.