It’d be easier to find the proverbial needle in a haystack than to find a tree in Bunder, Central Market or Hampankatta area. With the widening of roads central Mangalore bears the monochromatic image of a concrete jungle, where only billboards provide shade.
Even the existing parks and recreation spaces in the city do not serve much purpose. Some are too tiny, such as Attavara mini-park near K.M.C. Hospital, Srinivasa Mallya Park at Padavu, Police Memorial Park at Kadri Hills, while the larger ones such as Radio Park in Urva Stores are badly maintained. As many as 14 parks come under the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), while Kadri Park comes under the Horticulture Department.
Kadri Park, which attracts a large number of walkers, possesses large tracts of barren land and dried lawns. According to the department, it is “expensive” to beautify Kadri Park because of water scarcity and laterite rocks there. “Water is a big issue, and because of laterite rocks beneath the mud, the roots of the trees cannot develop. This year, we plan to spend Rs. 1.5 crore to develop the park,” said Pradeep D' Souza, Assistant Director of the department. The department had plans to pump water from Bendoor Cross to the park at a cost of Rs. 70 lakh, replace the compound, lawns and the drainage system, and remove laterite rocks to plant trees, he added.
