Mumbai: Citizens of Mumbai wrote a letter to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation amid the ongoing dissent against the concretisation and reduction of greenery at the 17th century heritage Bandra Fort garden.
Alleging that the new garden has been designed in an unsustainable way that will increase the temperature in the area, the citizens requested the BMC to remove the concretised surfaces and restore the garden back to its former glory with more greenery.
The BMC had inaugurated the Bandra Fort garden earlier this month after closing it for nearly two years for a revamp. However, local residents from Bandra and other Mumbaikars have started raising questions regarding the distortion of the heritage site.
Bandra residents urge BMC to restore greenery and remove concrete structures from Bandstand Fort Garden | File Photo
While locals have called out the authorities for wiping out the heritage element, citizens and environment activists have expressed dissent against concretisation of the garden.
On Tuesday, citizens wrote a letter to the BMC Commisioner and H/West ward listing their observations and demands to retain the old heritage feel of the garden. The letter, signed by around 80 citizens, said that the lawn near the waterfront promenade has been replaced with concrete tiles while the promenade lacks shade.
Similarly it also stated that the lotus pond has been removed, the bushy patch next to the amphitheatre stage has been replaced with a concrete structure and the hedge plants are replaced with concrete-basalt walls which increases the heat.
“All of these changes greatly contribute to increasing the heat in the garden. This 're-development' of our existing green spaces by needlessly uprooting and replacing plants, changing the flooring tiles, and concretizing large areas which costs a whooping 18.23 crores of taxpayer’s money is absolutely unnecessary and a sheer waste and misuse of funds,” read the letter.
The letter also stated a solution to the concretisation claiming that increasing indigenous trees through Miyawaki plantation technique would have resulted in cooling the area, adding garden seats in the lawn instead of concrete could have been more cost-effective and would have aligned with Mumbai’s Climate Action Plan.
Citizens demanded the concretized surfaces to be removed from the garden and restore it back to its former glory, with more greenery, bushes, shrubs, and shade-providing indigenous trees to reduce the heat so that visitors can feel comfortable while visiting the garden.
It also demanded that the BMC consults citizens before executing such projects in the future by uploading the detailed plan of work on the corporation's website. The letter also requested BMC to rebuild the Lotus pond include benches under the shade-providing trees.
Natasha Pereira, a resident of Bandra who led the initiative to complaint to the BMC, said, “I read on social media that the Bandra fort has been plastered and when I checked it myself, the sight made me furious. Reducing the greenery and increasing concrete has made the garden so hot that it feels like you need air conditioners in the garden as well. Earlier, the same had happened with a few garden near the Bandstand. After I complained about it, meetings were held but nothing changed but now we have to put stop to concretisation of our gardens.”
