Mumbai: Santacruz park for seniors turns into illegal dump

The traffic circle resembles a dump yard today. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Launched with great fanfare on November 10, 2017, Circle Garden on Linking Road in Santacruz was supposed to become one of the major landmarks in the Western suburbs. However, three years later, mid-day found during a visit that what was supposed to be a landscaped, eye-pleasing garden-cum-traffic island has become an illegal kabootar khana.

The Circle Garden in Daulat Nagar project was inaugurated in the presence of politicians and cine stars. It aimed to give citizens a better, cleaner and beautiful Santacruz.

The garden stands at one end of the Linking Road. Apart from greenery, it was supposed to have four laser-lit fountains and a dedicated walkway for senior citizens. During the visit, mid-day found a man sitting under an umbrella doing brisk business selling pigeon feed.

A stone waterfall that was supposed to come up at the garden

The portion that leads to the helipad was being used as a dump yard for dilapidated cars. An incomplete, dingy concrete structure in the centre had no electricity or plumbing. It was dark and reeking of urine. It is apparently also being used as a clandestine party hub.

A pond-like structure, which was supposed to have the fountains, fills up even after a light shower and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

People feed pigeons at the traffic island

Right outside the garden's boundary, the road leading towards SV Road and Milan subway had a foul-smelling garbage dump, which is cleared every evening, to make space for a bustling vegetable market, which leads to some shanties and an open area occupied by rag pickers.

Raghunandan Haridas, secretary of Relief Road Housing Societies, said that it had taken his association over 20 years to get the garden-cum-traffic island cleared of illegal encroachment, but now it appears that their challenge to regain the open space is far from over.

"Getting a beautiful garden in our area was great news for us. We were really impressed with the arrangements made for the bhoomi poojan, attended by our MLA Advocate Ashish Shelar, Corporator Hetal Gala and actors like Shreyas Talpade, Priya Banerjee, Karishma Sharma, Adah Sharma and Pooja Chopra," said Haridas.

He added that the original area of the plot was 2,464 sq metre, which has been reduced to 1,865 sq metre. "A society member found a dead pigeon on our terrace recently and the BMC was informed about the same," Haridas said.

A boat-shaped fountain planned for the garden

Vishwajit Kulkarni, who is the secretary of a building opposite the plot, said that their terrace parapet is covered with pigeon poop, which is a health hazard, plus the residents have to be extra vigilant while stepping out into their compound to avoid getting hit by the well-fed birds.

What officials say
Corporator Gala said that the plot is under an SRA scheme for development and was handed over to a company called Options Developers and Builders, who were also awarded other projects in the area for development and maintenance. "It is the common citizens who are deprived of the amenities which appear only on the Development Plan and are never executed," she said.

Shelar described the situation as a total breach of trust. "It has been brought to my notice that, besides the development of the garden, there are other serious discrepancies, where those shifted as per SRA norms, have still not been given alternate accommodation. I am in discussion with authorities to take stringent action against the company," he said.

Ashok Bachav, speaking on behalf of Girishbhai Patel of Options Developers, who had promised to develop the plot, said that as per the details received from his site manager, the garden project was put on the back burner due to an overall delay in the Development Plan. "We have restarted our work now and intend to develop the garden as per the original plan. This could take another two years."