DEATH BEDS
Citizens complain about road dividers being filled with debris, rubble and very little soil, which will make flowering plants die in Borivli beautification project … Geeta Desai
In a shoddily implemented road beautification project in Borivli, saplings have been planted in pits filled with construction debris, with only a thin layer of top soil to cover it up. The plants are in danger of dying even before they bloom to beautify the road.
“These are not flower beds… these are death beds for the plants,” sighs G K Kumar, a retired Tata Economic Consultancy Services professional and amateur horticulturist, as he points to the rubble-filled pits at Devidas Lane in Borivli-West.
On Sunday, Kumar and IC Colony resident Blaise Pereira, an environmentalist, noticed labourers dumping debris into pits along the road divider and then topping it up with a thin layer of red soil. They immediately complained to local corporator Vinod Ghedia, who also happens to be the deputy mayor. “It’s a question of the deputy mayor’s reputation. BMC cannot fool us like this,” said Kumar.
Sources at the local ward office revealed that the BMC was doing the beautification work as an amphitheatre is due to be inaugurated at the Brahmakumari garden in the same lane on January 26. The entire road is being spruced up on a war footing to avoid last minute hassles; hence the shoddy work.
“Now we know why trees and plants die so fast when they are planted in public places. They have given the wrong base for the plants — a three to four feet deep layer of debris and only two inches of red soil. Even grass will not grow on it,” said Pereira, an avid lover of greenery. Incidentally, Pereira and his wife often go deep inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and plant saplings if they see empty spaces between trees in the forest.
Meanwhile, civic authorities chose to shift the blame on one another when asked about the complaint. R- Central ward assistant commissioner Anand Wagralkar said he could not comment as the work was being handled by the central agency of the BMC, while Pravin Patil, deputy chief engineer (roads) for the western suburbs said the work was handled at the ward level.
Ghedia said he had received the complaint. “We will ask the central agency to rectify their mistake. I will ask them to remove all debris and fill the pits with proper soil. We want donors to come forward and adopt the dividers in the beautification project,” he said.
Blaise Pereira holds up rocks found among the debris that was piled up on the road-divider (right) for plants in Borivli