A 16-year-old has transformed a neglected half acre garden in Malad into a flourishing green space by cleaning the plastic and planting saplings. The teenage environmentalist revived the green space with the help of over 200 volunteers from various organisations and housing federation as a part of his birthday celebration.
Zidaan Castellino, a young environmentalist who is known for his initiatives regarding environment and urban plantation, has also been the youngest person to suggest changes in the open spaces policy at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The teenage environmentalist has planted around 5,000 trees in the last two years and has earlier also revived the green cover at a tree avenue earlier in Malad.
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The before and after image neglected half acre garden in Malad | FPJ
16-Yr-Old d Zidaan Castellino Revives Half Acre Of Neglected Green Space In Malad | FPJ
The group planting saplings in the garden | FPJ
Recently, to celebrate his 16th birthday, Zidaan decided to revive a public garden and a traffic island near the Ganesha Temple in the Jankalyan Nagar in Malad (W), which had turned into a waste dumping site due to negligence. On August 24, Zidaan was joined by around 220 people who planted saplings and shrubs in the neglected space to make it beautified and green. Organisations including Green Nagar Project, Jankalyan Nagar Housing Federation, WeNaturalists, ConnectFor, TCET Green Club and Eco Cell Orlem joined the initiative.
Zidaan said, “Apart from being an environmentalist, I have a personal connection with this garden in the locality where I was born and have been brought up. When I was a little kid, my mother would read in this garden and people from the locality could be seen taking a walk. However, the place has been neglected over years and was filled with plastic waste and wild grass had encroached upon the plot.”
Zidaan said that various initiatives had been launched in the past to revive the garden but as they failed, he decided to take up the initiative on the occasion of his birthday. Volunteers ranging from 2 years of age to as old as 80 years joined the initiative to clear the mud spac and clear all the plastic waste from the garden. The volunteers also planted saplings and shrubs around bigger trees to increase the green cover with an aim to revie the green space and bring back the flora and fauna.
“We have been living in a concrete jungle and I strongly feel that suburban Mumbai lacks ecoconscious mindset. Seeing such a beautiful park being neglected, I thought Jankalyan Nagar needed a green change and that is the reason I decided to step up for the initiative. Instead of increasing concrete in the city, we need to increase the city’s green cover through urban greening concept,” added Zidaan.
