In a significant victory for open spaces in Mumbai, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition to park a fire engine inside Nepean Sea Roadu00e2u0080u0099s Priyadarshini Park (PDP)
In a significant victory for open spaces in Mumbai, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition to park a fire engine inside Nepean Sea Road's Priyadarshini Park (PDP). The fire engine had been parked there since June 2017, and the fire department had also built a shed as a temporary fire station.
The BMC had filed an appeal in the apex court after the high court ordered that the fire engine be moved out of the park, along with the shed installed there. Now, it looks like the battle is finally over to stop the park from being taken over. If there is one lesson to take away from this, it is that citizens have to be constantly vigilant against forces trying to encroach on the few remaining open spaces in Mumbai. And such constant vigilance can be exhausting.
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While the PDP's caretakers were organised, had deep pockets to pay for court battles, along with the time and will to take this battle to the courts, not everyone has the ammo or the means to take on the system. It is time that authorities, and builders, stop trying to bulldoze communities and ordinary people into 'accepting' encroachment and telling them to live with it.
The powers that be need to develop a sense of responsibility and conscience. They have to be keepers of the city, protect open spaces instead of grabbing them. They need to realise and respect the fact that open spaces are as necessary as other 'infra' they plan to have in the city.
Residents should not have to, and most times cannot, fight a battle as difficult as this one to save precious open spaces. In the end, those in power are also residents of the city, and they need green, open spaces as much as the common man striving to protect them. Protecting open spaces is no walk in the park; don't make it any harder.
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