Mumbai's Seven Bungalows garden lies in ruins

In a city where gardens are limited and open spaces are fast shrinking, one would think that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) would do its part to maintain existing green spaces. However, that is not the case with the Dadabhai Naoroji Garden, better known as the Seven Bungalows garden, opposite Nana Nani Park in Andheri (West).

The garden has no fencing and it appears as if no official staff has been posted to take care of the premises. According to sources, the garden has been lying in a poor state since the last two years. Earlier, it was being maintained by a local trust for almost three years, but due to its poor maintenance, the BMC took possession of the garden without appointing a team for its maintenance.

“Open spaces and gardens are the most precious things in a city like Mumbai. Despite its presence at a prime location, we wonder why the BMC is neglecting the maintenance of the garden,” said Sherley Singh, a resident of Andheri. “The maintenance of the garden has worsened in the last two years, providing an opportunity for hawkers to encroach on the space.”

Harsh Vora, a resident of Seven Bungalows area confirmed this. He added, “Due to negligence on part of the corporation, hawkers have been encroaching the area surrounding the garden and even the footpaths of nearby housing societies. We just want to see them removed.”

But the local corporator is citing shortage of funds as the reason for the garden’s poor maintenance. “I have been following the issue since the last five years. But the corporation did not allocate any funds for it, which is why we are not able to maintain the garden,” said Devendra Amberkar, local corporator and ward committee president of Andheri (West).

“It seems that there has been a communication gap between officials from the head office and the ward officials. Now the person who is behind this goof-up should be held responsible,” said Adolf D’souza, a corporator from Andheri (West).

Despite repeated attempts at contact via phone calls and SMSes, the ward officials and the deputy municipal commissioner remained unavailable for comment.