Mumbai: Locals sure BMC will not maintain their garden as well as they do

The BMCrsquos notice for the return of 36 plots given on adoption basis has rattled many citizen groups maintaining gardens The Maheshwari Nagar Federation has been maintaining the Vrindavan garden in Andheri East for almost 10 years They have created a floodlit football ground and even a vermicompost centre in the garden Amid the controversy over the cityrsquos open spaces they were also served a notice to hand over the plot by January 28 but they believe the BMC will not be able to do an equally good jobAlso Read Mumbais open space warriors win CM asks BMC to take back open plotsLocals have employed two gardeners two women for vermicomposting a watchman and one manager for Vrindavan garden They wonder what will happen to the staff and park maintenance now PicsSatej ShindeThe chief minister recently ordered the BMC to take back spaces given on adoption basis Around 36 trusts organisations and residentsrsquo associations have already been served notices to hand over their plots and the groups maintaining the rest of the 216 plots will also be served notices eventuallyP Sriganesh a resident of the neighbouring Sterling CourtOne of the 36 plots is the Vrindavan garden in Kondivita Chakala This garden is a representative case of the 36 others It was developed from the funds of the local corporator and MLA in 2008 Since then the residents of this area have been maintaining it through donations Spread over an area of 4000 sq mts the garden was made on a recreation ground plot It houses several trees including the rare Tree of Life Lignum Vitae Tree of Heaven Amerhistia Nobilis Nagkesar and Ficus Krishnae There are also Avocado Karanj etc It also consists of flowering shrubs and a football court The court is floodlit and is used by children for practising football until late at night Besides there is a vermicompost facility here which can take in upto 120 kg of organic waste every dayResident speakldquoThe vermicompost facility was started much earlier in 1999 in our building compound We then moved it here since the plot was lying unutilised As the population of the area increased we increased the capacity Right now we have five compost pits where organic waste is dumped We have employed two women from the local Stree Mukti Sanghatna to maintain the facility The compost is then used in the garden itselfrdquo said Malti Rai a resident of Maheshwari NagarRead Story Private players claim BMC cant maintain open spaces on its ownAnother resident Sabrina Kannampilly can name almost every tree and its specialities Kannampilly has planted several trees herself and tends to them regularly She said ldquoWe have been maintaining this garden meticulously over the years After the politicians paid for the initial cost we have maintained this garden through donations The monthly maintenance takes thousands of rupees Besides we have employed two gardeners two women for vermicomposting a watchman and one manager for the garden What will happen to themrdquoUnused plot nearbyldquoThere was a plot reserved for a municipal market nearby for almost the same number of years In 10 years we have transformed our plot into a garden while that plot is lying just the samerdquo said P Sriganesh a resident of the neighbouring Sterling CourtAlso Read Activists look at ways to get open space policy scrappedAll three of them believe that the BMC will not be able to do a very good job at maintaining their garden ldquoIn Marol there was a beautiful 5acre garden developed by the residents After they handed it to the civic body it was ruined within a monthrdquo Rai said He said there is no chance the BMC will keep this garden the way they have kept it so farThe ladies are determined to continue to take care of the garden even after it is handed over to prevent it from falling into disrepair They are ready to take on guerrilla gardening they will even scale the walls if the garden is sealed to make sure the plants are looked after they said