How residents turned trash dump into kitchen gardens in DLF 1

Gurgaon: Situated along the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, H-Block of DLF 1 stands apart from other areas around because of a large and well-preserved expanse of green, 800m long and 40m wide.
With its trimmed grass, more than 200 fully-grown trees and over 5,000 saplings, it is hard to believe that this verdant stretch was, only three years back, a dumping yard visited by pigs and other stray animals.

“It was an unmaintained patch with a few trees and heaps of garbage — the trees were dying due to continuous waste dumping,” recalled Rahul Chandola, secretary of H-Block residential community. So, a group of residents decided to take up the challenge of reviving the green belt, clearing the area of more than 100 truckloads of garbage.

As soon as this space was cleaned, the waste-dumping stopped. “For the first one week, we had to get an earthmover to remove all the waste. Once the waste dumping mafia noticed that the green belt had been cleaned, they immediately stopped dumping garbage. And more families from the block came forward to take part in the cleaning and greening drive,” shared Dilip Narang and Atul Gupta, the two locals behind the initiative.

Over time, Narang and Gupta were joined in their endeavour by neighbours Sunil Kohli, Misha Bhatia, Pamela Bhatia and Vinay Khanna, all coming together to tend to this small corner of Gurgaon.

Today, families are cultivating kitchen gardens by growing spinach, coriander, radish, onions and various herbs in the green belt, using the drip-irrigation method to water the plants. The neighbourhood kids, meanwhile, look after the compost pits here. “It’s so good to see children participating in the process. Mahreen, my 10-year-old daughter, is helping grow organic vegetables in the green belt and trying to keep the environment safe with good practices.

She is now planning to run a door-to-door campaign to encourage people to grow organic vegetables in green belts and make their own compost pits,” revealed Roohi Bhatia, one of those who have turned to kitchen gardening to regenerate the surroundings.

It’s not that the green belt was earlier devoid of flora.

R S Rathee, the councilor here, remembers a few species of trees and some wild shrubs surviving despite the odds. “However, with the residents’ efforts, many have been revived, and more trees such as neem, peepal, gulmohar and some fruit trees have been added, providing ample shade and clean air in the area,” said Rathee.

Indeed, proactive and committed residents, aided by a corporation that helped build a well-paved track and lights, have given this block a new lease of life.

And even though there are many parks in the vicinity, the green belt in H-Block has proved to be nothing short of a boon for residents. “I never imagined I would ever visit this green patch, which used to be bushes with waste lying all around. Now, I come here for a walk every morning — even women and children can come here at night as it is a well-

lit and safe place,” said Poonam, a happy morning walker.