Kirti Shah, a resident of Ambawadi, wanted to spend some quality time on New Year’s Eve with family and friends at a public garden off Sindhu Bhavan road. However, he returned disappointed as the garden was almost dark with just a few dim lights on the walkway around the lake.
The public garden off Sindhu Bhavan road is not the only one of its kind facing this issue. Many gardens in the city lack sufficient lighting, making them hotspots for anti-social and criminal activities.
The civic body has more than 200 gardens, majority of which have been outsourced to Mother Dairy for maintenance in exchange of providing space for setting up small parlours.
Many of the major gardens in city like the ones at Bodakdev TP 50, Nova Village, RC Technical, Vastrapur lake and Prahladnagar garden lack sufficient lighting facilities. Apart from these big gardens in the western parts of the city, the problem persists in many small gardens too.
“It was pitch-dark in the garden, and only because the gate was open, we came to know that entry was open. The high mast lights were not functioning, making it impossible for children to play in the huge lawn area,” said Shah, a businessman by profession, talking about his visit to the garden.
The on-duty security guards informed Shah that the civic body did not take any action despite several complaints.
Even municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra had taken serious note of the issue during the weekly review meeting of AMC on January 3 this year.
SM Khatri, deputy municipal commissioner of AMC’s parks and garden department, confirmed having received complaints about poor lighting facilities in gardens. “AMC’s light department has been asked to get the lights repaired as early as possible,” said Khatri.
However, the light department claims to be unaware of the magnitude of the problem. “I have received a complaint of lighting problem in just Vastrapur garden, and repair work is in progress,” said MK Shah, assistant city engineer of AMC’s lights department. He said that he would coordinate with the garden department for complaints from other gardens and do the needful.
200 The number of gardens that AMC has in the city
