BMC staff, Matunga residents get together to clean up garden

Residents of Matunga teamed up with the garden department of BMC's F-north ward to clean up a prominent garden in the area on Friday. It was a day before the usual Saturday – the day formally decided upon by the BMC to observe the clean India campaign between 11 am and 1 pm, along with active citizens of the city.

The Maheshwari garden, which has an area of 8,597 sq metres, is owned by the BMC, but given to L&T for maintenance. "Everyday, around 200 people visit the garden and invariably litter it. The fountain of the park has also been lying defunct for a long time. So we decided to clean this garden today, while on Saturday we will clean up the space below the King Circle flyover where a lot of firecracker remains have accumulated," said civic activist Nikhil Desai.

Five to six students of the nearby Don Bosco shelter home and members from Greenline, an NGO, also participated in the drive. During the process, the group also identified five dead trees inside the garden,
which were cut in a few hours with the permission of the garden department.

Alka Sasane, assistant municipal commissioner of F-north ward said, "Citizens are self-motivated in this ward. We will be cleaning up the DN Vaidya garden in Hindu Colony by the second week of November."

At least 10 bins full of waste was collected in the process.