Locals at Kalina have alleged that the Kalina Talao Garden, also known as the Joseph Baptista Garden, is in a state of disrepair since it was upgraded in 2016 at a cost of ₹5.5 crores. They blamed poor maintenance of the garden as the primary reason for its rapid deterioration.
This comes as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a fine of ₹50,000 on the contractor responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the garden. However, despite these measures, locals say that the garden continues to be in a poor state.
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Local corporator for INC, Tulip Miranda said, “The lawn is drying up, walkways are coming apart and there are no security guards. The garden has become vulnerable to encroachments again. Hundreds use this garden every day and companies are just pouring in. The BMC spent ₹5.5 crore to revive it and create an open space but it is being destroyed. If this is the condition in winter, by summer the whole garden will be dead.”
Further, Miranda has also written to the BMC’s gardens department seeking action against the contractor. “Imposing small penalties is not going to help. BMC must blacklist the contractor and appoint a new one. Even the BMC-allotted timings are not followed to open and close the garden,” she said.
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The Kalina Talao has a 300-year history and was a water reservoir at one point with religious significance. However, the region saw illegal encroachments for years, with around 200 shanties housed in the region as of 2014.
It was then turned into a garden with sports facilities and walkways after a two-year back and forth between the locals and the officials with then corporator Brian Miranda (INC) leading the locals’ plea.
“It is an over 30,000 sq m plot. It was brought under CCTV camera surveillance. There's a football ground near the pond, and space for kids to play. High-mast lights were also installed. Now it looks like we are going back to 2014, and the garden is falling apart. The contractor should be blacklisted,” Brian said on the garden’s state now.
Deputy Superintendent of the civic gardens department, Sunil Rathod said, “We have imposed several penalties on the maintenance contractor Ms Pinakee Enterprises. We issued a show-cause notice as to why the contract must not be terminated. Action is being taken as per procedure.” The BMC has said that it was paying nearly ₹60 lakhs per month towards the maintenance of the Kalina Talao Garden.
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