Civic apathy turns Jewel of Navi Mumbai into a dry patch, squalor

The activist has raised multiple complaints with the administration as well as consistently tweeted about the mishappenings to draw the attention of the authorities. Another alarming factor raised by the activist about the garden is the continuing thefts of objects going unchecked

Navi Mumbai: The last thing one expects when visiting a park is to witness dried trees, wilted flowers, garbage floating in the pond and poor amenities. Green activists and concerned citizens of Navi Mumbai said the Jewel of Navi Mumbai, one of the city’s most popular theme parks in the city, is an example of how civic apathy can kill a beautiful natural space.

Civic apathy turns Jewel of Navi Mumbai into a dry patch, squalor

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) which spent ₹3.5 crore to increase the green cover of the theme park in 2022 has been accused of willfully neglecting the park to facilitate newer contracts and projects.

“Vast patches of the garden which earlier had betel nut trees and bamboo are now wilted and dried. The only reason one can think of is that these plants are not being watered, which is the work of the garden department. Whereas just a year-old plantation project done using the Miyawaki technique is thriving as the project is with an NGO. The garden department of NMMC is not able to maintain the property,” said resident and green activist Dharmesh Barai.

The activist has raised multiple complaints with the administration as well as consistently tweeted about the mishappenings to draw the attention of the authorities. Another alarming factor raised by the activist about the garden is the continuing thefts of objects going unchecked.

“Since 2020 I have been consistently alerting the authorities about the repeated thefts happening in this garden. But there have been no efforts to catch the culprit. Almost 90% of the park’s iron barricade rods have been stolen. Instead of lodging complaints with the police, and having more security personnel deployed, the only thing the administration has been consistent with is to float new tender bids. Crores have been spent in the name of revamping and beautifying the area on an annual basis but no thought is put into addressing the root issue,” said Barai.

NMMC developed the area in 2016 by incurring an expenditure of over ₹16 crore.

“There is absolutely no maintenance by NMMC. Even the holding pond around which the park is developed is in total mess. It is filled with garbage for which even the public visiting the place is equally responsible. The lack of civic sense is proving to be a bane to the natural beauty of the area,” said another resident.

Municipal commissioner Rajesh Narvekar stated of being aware of the issues and working towards finding a solution. With regard to the security lapses the civic chief stated of increasing the surveillance system.

“Due to the area on which the park is built it is not feasible for the administration to deploy more security personnel but certainly we will be having more CCTVs so that at least the miscreants can be identified,” he said.

Commissioner acknowledged the concerns about the drying up of the trees as well. “We have contacted the Agricultural Technology and Information Centre, Dapoli to suggest the cause and means to address the drying up of the trees planted in the garden. Excessive sunlight was stated to be the reason for bamboo saplings drying, we are working out ways to address this issue as well,” said the commissioner.