Mumbai: Dadar TT’s garden under flyover opens for public

Like the sun shining through an overcast sky bringing some brightness a mammoth public garden opened under the Dadar TT flyover at Khodadad Circle over the weekendThe green seems to cut the pace of life with its very presence bang in the middle of an area where the residential and commercial collide It is also the proverbial stonersquos throw from Dadar stationrsquos east side and next to where buses leave for Pune and Nashik among other destinations This space once was a parking lot for taxis but those were moved out and a garden was made in its placeA kid zone awaits the bachcha partyThe guidelinesAmey Gole Shiv Sena corporator said ldquoThe park will remain open as per BMC guidelines in the morning and evening The space is ready we are just giving it some final touches The project that began in February 2019 had a deadline of a little over 12 months The pandemic and lockdown were a spanner in the works We also had to ask for a tender for the last segment of the garden which was not in the plans earlier opposite the Dadar fire brigade That stretched the deadline toordquoSimplicity keyFor Gole it was important that the garden spread across more than 60000 square feet be relatively easy to maintain ldquoIf you go for very hifi equipment or infra it looks good at the outset but is impractical overallrdquo said the corporator adding that the contractor will be in charge of maintenance for the first six months after which the garden will be handed over to the F ward ldquoWe have 300 saplings inside childrenrsquos play equipment and a walking track There are also a large number of vertical gardens We also have a sitting areardquo Gole saidLess pollutionFor Gole location was important ldquoas this is the first area travellers see as they come into Mumbai First impressions are lasting ones In ordinary times this is such a trafficchoked area we had to do something to lessen pollution The vertical gardens add a touch of green and help reduce pollutionrdquo The corporator added that the project that had a Rs 45 crore budget has opened even as the outbreak has necessitated curbs He said ldquoIt is not locals of say Hindu Colony or Parsi Colony who will use this garden every day They have so many gardens inside it is other Dadar locals and commuters who will use it With outstation travel now open we will see travellers using the gardenrdquoThe upliftNikhil Desai a Matunga resident and a wellknown area activist said ldquoIt would have been good if childrenrsquos play equipment was installed in one of the already existing parks in this ward I do not know if children will come to the main road to play I also wished to see 80 per cent of horticulture and 20 per cent of cement that is not the case here We do have vertical gardens but not as much greeneryrdquoConceding problems in the topography he said ldquoThere are several vehicular crossings underneath the flyover so the park cannot be continuous but has to be segmentedrdquo He added that it was certainly a facelift for a space that had gone to seed ldquoIf there is proper lighting and security this will definitely be advantageous rather than having a messy underbelly of the flyover which had also become a urinalLet us hope that the garden is the end to all of this While there may be some reservations about space usage in a city starved of greens any garden maintained and with security is better than no garden at allrdquoGole has a message for the people ldquoPlease treat this park and use equipment and infra with the same care and respect you use your amenities at homerdquo60000Area in sq ft the garden is spread across