Reported by Prashun Chakraborty in Timesofindia.indiatimes.com on Jun 25, 2012
Nagpur Improvement Trust gardens in a shambles - The Times of India

NAGPUR: The Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) has failed to maintain 49 gardens including 40 mini-gardens it had developed across the city. This puts a question mark over the efficiency of NIT that has been entrusted with developing the metro region in the state's second capital.

Public parks and gardens serve as lungs for a city that is fast turning into a concrete jungle. Today most of the parks and gardens are in a bad shape. The NIT's garden department admitted this in reply to a query asked under Right To Information Act by India Against Corruption activist K Dabholkar. Of the 49 gardens developed by the NIT, over 30 are in a neglected state.

The NIT has also failed to provide even basic facilities at its gardens. About 39 gardens have no drinking water facilities, while 34 gardens are sans public toilets. Though toilets were made available at 15 places, lack of maintenance has rendered them of no use.

The NIT invested a sizeable amount of money to give a facelift to some of parks like Sant Dyaneshwar garden, Rajiv Gandhi Udyan etc, and also developed gardens with landscaping and amusement enclosures. But in most cases, lack of proper maintenance has turned this investment into a wasteful expenditure.

Dayanand Park, a children's amusement enclosure at Jaripatka, was set up by spending crores. The park turned out to be a huge draw among residents, especially those living in north Nagpur, after the landscaping and amusement enclosure were done at the park. "But today, the park lies in complete neglect with all the amusement equipment, slides, etc either damaged or worn out. Broken iron rails and rusted steel edges pose a threat to the children," rued residents.

Many parks have become a refuge for antisocial elements at nights. A case in point is the Lata Mangeshkar Udyan, where the compound walls are damaged and antisocial elements jump over the fence, a miffed resident of Vaishali Nagar Prakash Meshram said.

Many gardens have no benches to sit. Garbage are strewn at many others. There are pits all over the place and garbage is thrown right at the entrance, allege morning walkers at Sant Dyaneshwar garden.

"Defunct lights and mucky recycled water of the decorative fountain inside Dayanand park make these an eyesore. The NIT is collecting entry fee, still the park is crying for maintenance," say residents.

Like NMC, it is high time that the NIT ensured better maintenance of gardens, say residents.