Marol locals upset by BMC’s volte-face on garden upkeep ……….Sukhada Tatke I TNN
The Marol residents’ decision to beautify a barren plot last year was a sterling example of public initiative. Now exactly a year after they planted trees in the one acre plot, the civic body, they say, is spoiling their plans.
According to members of the Marol Military Road Residents’ Welfare Association (MMRWA), the garden has been in a state of complete shambles for more than six months. TOI had earlier reported that soon after the residents cleaned the garden and planted trees, the BMC started removing the tiles of an existing pathway and it had taken a lot of convincing from the residents before the work was finally stopped.
“At that time, we were given an informal nod by the civic body for the upkeep of this plot, owing to our good record of maintaining another garden in the area.
The locals then planted a few saplings and levelled the ground on their own,’’ said Suresh Nair of the MMRWA. “We agreed to keep our own gardeners there to take care of the ground. But the civic body is not ready to give it up for adoption. The BMC says it has the funds to maintain the garden, but it is quite clear that they are not doing anything,’’ he added.
Right now, a lot of debris has been dumped in the garden. The tiles of an existing pathway have been removed. The gate is broken and cannot be used. The benches are in a rundown state and do not provide comfortable seating.
“We have no problem with the civic body doing its job. It is good that it has decided to develop the garden in its own way, but why spend public money in rebuilding what already exists? There is already a walkway, why destroy it?’’ said Nair. In December 2007, the residents got together, planted small trees in this space and called the garden Nakshatra. Ever since then they voluntarily started spending their Sundays beautifying it. Now, they say that the civic body has come in the way and it is a tactic to show that it is doing something with the budget allotted for garden development.
Biju Augustine, member of MMRWA filed an RTI application to find out about the status of the garden’s maintenance work. “The first reply said they had spent Rs 2.6 lakh on the garden. The second one said nothing had been spent so far. I have asked for copies of bills, but the BMC has refused to furbish the information.
I am going to now appeal to the information commissioner,’’ he said. But Medha Gogate of the civic body’s horticulture department in K-East ward said they would take up the preservation work of the garden. “We have appointed a contractor who will begin work soon,’’ she said.