Caught off guard?

BMC's decision on the removal of fences around public maidans has sparked a debate regarding its feasibility

BMC's recent announcement to remove the fencing around open gardens, traffic islands and open spaces has received mixed reactions. The civic body claims that by doing this, it would ease public access to gardens and maidans and also make it easier to keep a tab on their maintenance. The decision is seen as a rather bold move, one which has made locals of these areas, quite nervous.

The decision is perceived as a bold one because giving unobstructed access to open spaces and parks may have some repercussions; encroachment is one of the major possible setbacks. Space-crunched Mumbai is plagued with this problem for a very long time and BMC's failure to curb it is no more a secret.

Nayna Kathpalia, Trustee, Nagar NGO, shares, "If the civic body is planning to remove the fences around open spaces and gardens, then it is a bad decision. Do they have plans and means to keep encroachments and anti-social elements at bay?"

Take a look at footpaths, mangrove areas, forest protected areas, railways lines or even the streetsshanties are mushrooming everywhere. These hutments pop up in such areas primarily because of two reasons: open spaces and lack of boundaries or fences around such areas. Removing the fences will make all open spaces and gardens 'defenceless' and encroachment may begin to crawl in.

Another worrying reason that locals express is that of safety as anti-social elements are known to set up smoking dens wherever there is free space. During night-time, the chances of drug addicts walking directly into unguarded spaces is quite high. How many maidans and gardens can the cops guard with the existing level of crime in Mumbai?

Kathpalia questions, "Before we placed the fences at Oval Maidan, there was such a mess there with problems like prostitution, drug peddling and all sorts of anti-social activities. If the fences are done away with, will the police be able to handle all this?"

SVR Srinivas, Additional Municipal Commissioner, BMC, clarifies, "The plan is to remove the fences around the traffic islands, open spaces and gardens that are smaller in size. We are doing this as it will provide a better walking experience for people. Also, this will help in keeping a tab on maintenance and we will ensure that these places are not encroached upon."

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Caught off guard?