DNA: Mumbai: Friday,
May 22, 2015.
The audit was done by social audit local team
(SALT), a group of citizens formed by NGO Mahiti Adhikar Manch aiming to create
awareness and conduct audit by citizens of money spent by municipal corporation
on various projects. It is done procuring data through RTI, and checking if
work is being properly carried out.
Unlike most gardens of BMC, Kesharbaug in Dadar
(E) has green patches at regular intervals. "But this greenery is not
because the gardener sprinkles water regularly, but because the trustees of the
temple in the garden premises who do so," Shankar Tomal, a regular, tells
a group of people conducting an audit of the ground. Tomal added that very
little is being done in terms of other facilities.
The audit was done by social audit local team
(SALT), a group of citizens formed by NGO Mahiti Adhikar Manch aiming to create
awareness and conduct audit by citizens of money spent by municipal corporation
on various projects. It is done procuring data through RTI, and checking if
work is being properly carried out.
The small garden, which is spread over 9,000 sq ft, is given to the contractors by BMC for maintenance. BMC has been
paying Rs28,000 per month for its maintenance since June 2013. With the amount of money that
is allotted, there should be enough trees, lights, dustbins etc.
However, Bhaskar Prabhu of SALT said that the work
is falling short 'on almost all parameters of comparison'. "There aren't
enough lights or shrubs in the park, nor any fences around the trees. There are
no washrooms, and rat holes dot the garden; 24-hour security has been
deployed only after the superintendent of the garden, Vijay Hire, was informed
of the audit. Even the board to inform people about the timings is
missing," he added.
Mukesh Dutt, a resident of the area, said:
"Some gardening work had happened in between, but it is not a regular
affair." The residents who gathered gave the garden a ranking of 3 on 10 due to failure of the BMC to look after it.
When contacted, Hire said, "I will look into
the matter. I cannot be present on the ground all the time. Anyone can level
such allegations. We have improved 783 gardens so far, but no one
appreciates that."
Joint municipal commissioner SS Shinde remained
unavailable for comment.