Nagpur: Public gardens across the city, the only affordable source for recreation for the people, particularly senior citizens and children, have nothing much to offer as most of the paraphernalia and facilities are in a bad shape since long. Reason: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has no funds for the upkeep of these gardens.
“Against 175 gardens, the NMC has allocated Rs20 crore for maintenance. This makes an average Rs11 lakh provision for the maintenance of each garden. This fund is insufficient,” said a senior official from the garden department.
Deputy municipal commissioner (garden department) Amol Chorpagar was not available for comments.
The official pointed out that in the last financial year, the NMC had provided Rs30 crore for the maintenance and renovation of the gardens. The then municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe had increased the fund by almost Rs10 crore in his civic budget for 2020-21, which was sufficient for the upkeep of the green lungs of the city, said the official. However, standing committee chairman Vijay Zalke reduced the provision by almost 50% and brought it down to Rs20 crore, he added.
The Rs20 crore could have been manageable if the NMC had to maintain only its gardens. Before Mundhe became the civic chief, the civic body used to own around 131 gardens. But after he took over the charge, Mundhe brought 44 more gardens managed by Nagpur Improvement Trust under NMC’s possession. This move increased the financial burden on the already cash-strapped civic body, pointed out the official.
Due to lack of funds, the NMC is finding it difficult to carry out repairs, tree plantation and maintenance works in all gardens. Barring a few gardens, the NMC is unable to carry out even horticulture or landscaping works.
The official also pointed out that the NMC carries out maintenance as well as upgrading open spaces into gardens across the city. The fund crunch has hit development of at least five gardens, including Lata Mangeshkar Garden, he admitted.