Parks to remain open for 12 hours/day, says Civic body

Following our Garden Safety Audit Round Table with stakeholders, BMC passes orders to keep civic gardens open to public for longer

It's official, Mumbaikars can now start and end their day at their neighbourhood garden. On Friday, BMC chief Ajoy Mehta finally issued the official order to the Garden Department to keep gardens open for at least 12 hours a day. This comes after mid-day's Garden Safety Audit Round Table, a sustained campaign to increase access to the city's open spaces and improve their upkeep.

This paper, through the Garden Safety Audit Round Table, has constantly been reporting about citizens' demand for longer access to better parks. mid-day had first reported on July 26 that the civic body was considering keeping gardens open for 12 hours. This decision was finalised in September, and Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has now issued the official opening hours — 6 am to 12 pm in the day, and 3 pm to 9 pm in the evenings.

So far, the city's parks barely stay open for seven to eight hours, and close early evening. Most parks have opening hours from 6-9 in the morning, and 4-7 in the evening. This makes it difficult for lakhs of working Mumbaikars to access them.

Change from Monday
A note issued by Mehta's office states: "There are 750 gardens and all have different timings and because of which visitors face hardships in accessing these open spaces. This also leads to very limited use of open spaces. In a bid to give citizens the maximum benefits of open spaces, the gardens will have uniform timings and will be open for 12 hours." The note adds, "Three hours, between 12 pm to 3 pm, have been kept for maintenance work, since all civic gardens are kept open for 365 days. Garden department officials have been asked to install signboards, informing of the change in timing at the gate of every garden."

Officials confirmed that implementation of this directive will begin on Monday, under the guidance of Mehta and Dr Kishor Khisrsagar, deputy commissioner in charge of Gardens, along with Superintendent of Gardens Jeetendra Pardesi.

Activists say
Activists wished that gardens would remain open in the afternoons too, but lauded the BMC for taking on the intiative. Open space activist Rishi Aggarwal said, "This is a good initiative. Having said that, I would like the BMC to also consider keeping gardens open throughout the day, without any break."

Nikhil Desai, another activist, said, "It is a good move and will help citizens unwind at the end of work. This was a much needed move, as previously the parks would shut by 7 or 8 pm. I wish they would keep the gates open till 10 pm, but something is better than nothing. It is so good to see these positive changes after mid-day's Garden Audit."

According to sources in the BMC, in the future, these timings may be extended too, if officials can come up with a better maintenance plan. However, many officials remain unconvinced.

A civic staffer said, "We need to shut the gardens in the afternoon for maintenance work. It is not possible to do maintenance work at night." Another official pointed out that there were security concerns over keeping parks open as late as 10 or 11 pm. In many areas, there is a strong possibility of addicts, drunkards and other anti-social elements using parks as their nightly dens.

Civic chief says
Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said, "We are grateful to the citizens and mid-day for bringing this to our notice. As it was a good suggestion, we implemented it" When asked whether the BMC will consider keeping gardens open in the afternoons, he said, "Currently, we need to close in the afternoons for maintenance, but we are open to new suggestions."

Also Read: Mid-Day Garden Audit: BMC Orders To Place Complaint Book In Every Park

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