mid-day Opinion: We must keep our gardens neat, clean, and usable

Representational Image

The Sane Guruji Udyan, a park near Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi, suffers from poor maintenance and lighting issues, months after it was reopened to the public. This is the same garden next to Siddhivinayak Aqua Line station. When work was on for the Metro line, the park was taken away for Metro station work. At that time, this paper had reported protests at an adjoining maidan over this garden being removed for the Metro station. Then, officials had reassured that once the Metro 3 line began, locals would get their garden back. They kept their word, and this, too, was reported by mid-day.

Recently, there was a complete blackout in the garden for a week, after which makeshift floodlights were installed.

Broken lights, benches and trash on the grass, mainly due to people not using dustbins, have also been seen. A water fountain has no water. The garden's responsibility currently lies in limbo between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL), as the transfer process to the civic body (maintenance authority) is still underway. While this is an internal issue, at least basic maintenance and regulation can keep this garden neat, clean, and usable. We cannot allow the space to go to seed because of wrangling. This is one of the few spots on a buzzing road, where there are so many senior citizens living around who use the park for walking and health benefits. Let somebody take over and look after the park. No use re-making a park that lies in a derelict condition.