Walkers and residents of Boat Club don’t like grey. Only now. Because of a truckload of cement slabs that have come into their neighbourhood. According to contract workers here, these slabs, unloaded on the streets of the posh Boat Club area, are expected to take over the ‘green platforms’ across the area. For over 12 years now, the residents have been maintaining these green platforms.
“It took a lot of persuading, hard work and commitment on the part of the Boat Club residents to turn the platforms into beautiful gardens. Now, without any consideration for our work or our needs, the Corporation has brought in these cement slabs to lay the platforms. The reality is, we don’t need them here,” says Naina Shah, a walker, an environmentalist and a solid waste management consultant, who is also one of the residents responsible for increasing the green cover in the neighbourhood.
So protective are the residents about the gardens that they are generous with their time and money to maintain it. “The area doesn’t have Metrowater supply. We all buy water to drink and to water the plants and grass. We invest in gardeners who come every day,” say Sunil Panickar and Anithah Panickar, residents of the locality.
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Residents consider cement platforms unnecessary in the Boat Club area because walkers prefer the roads to platforms here. “No one uses the platforms, so we turned them into a garden. What is disheartening is that we were never consulted before the work was commissioned. People come here for a walk only for the avenue trees and lush greenery around. If it is replaced with cement, the beauty of the place will be lost. This is a waste of our money, an unnecessary work that will only make people angry,” says E. Muralidharan, another walker. The residents also fear that the cement platforms will invite mobile tea shops and other encroachments in the area. “The Corporation should lay platforms where they are really needed, such as busy roads,” says Naina, adding that the Corporation had earlier laid few cement platforms in the area, but they are now broken and unusable. “You can see their condition. They are such an eyesore. Now, if all the platforms become like that, the place will lose its charm,” she adds.
While workers have already started uprooting the grass on Sathyanarayana Avenue to lay the slabs, residents and walkers are hopeful that their pleas will be heard and the work stopped. They even plan to approach the Mayor soon.