Revamp killed Dadar garden green, reduced open space, say residents

Dadar’s Veer Kotwal Udyan has lost a substantial part of its architectural heritage and a large chunk of its green area in the restoration process. 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now repairing the decrepit garden, a traffic island, outside Plaza cinema at a cost of nearly Rs2 crore. But residents of the area have said that the restoration work has destroyed the garden’s original layout and reduced its open space. 

For instance, the original wrought iron fence has been torn down and replaced with nondescript grills. The old drinking water fountain that stood on the footpath has been uprooted and planted inside an obscure corner of the garden. While a large section of the garden has been cleaved away to widen the road, a substantial area inside the garden has been covered with tiles. 

The garden outside Plaza theatre has a strong connection to the local community. Lately, it had become a meeting place for matrimonial matchmakers. Neera Adarkar, architect and writer and researcher on the city’s old mills said that the garden was an important community centre for the locals. “It was a venue for small political meetings and participants in the annual women’s day parade gathered here to prepare for the march. It was also a place where the elderly gathered,” said Adarkar. 

The BMC said that a portion of the garden had to given away for widening the road outside. Devendra Jain, assistant municipal commissioner, G (North) ward said that the green area has not reduced. He said that only 5% of the garden’s nearly 3,000 sq m area has been lost to road widening. “Motorists found the turning on the road outside difficult and traffic experts had suggested widening it. We have increased the greenery in the garden,” said Jain. 

But locals questioned the need to tile a large section of it. Girish Raut, a Dadar resident and member of a group called Indian Environment Movement questioned the need to cover a garden with tiles and concrete. “What kind of a garden is being created? They are covering open spaces with granite and tiles. A garden should be encroachment-free, open and have minimum of concrete and paved areas,” he said. 

Adarkar said, “It was not necessary to change the nature of the garden like this. In this case, part of it has been taken away for a road. But in many other cases, open spaces have been taken away for building infrastructure projects. On the one hand, we do not have funds to acquire open spaces and on the other, we are taking away large chunks of what little we have.”