The BMC wants to decentralise garden maintenance and will now allow ward officers to sanction garden maintenance contracts worth upto Rs 25 lakh, while the Superintendent of Gardens can undertake major contracts (those that need work worth more than this sum) for maintenance. Some activists believe that this not only defeats the purpose of creating a separate Garden Cell but also gives more power to local officials, thus leaving scope for corruption.

The Pramod Mahajan garden at Dadar is being maintained by the BMC. If implemented, the proposal will let ward officers oversee the maintenance of gardens in their ward. File pic