Mumbai: The death of plants along road medians and in municipal gardens of Navi Mumbai, despite being regularly watered, has been found to be due to poor soil fertility, which as the civic chief discovered, was because it was being superficially dressed with fertiliser and manure.
During a visit to a garden in mid-May, N. Ramaswamy, the civic chief, himself a hobby gardener, found that the soil was dry despite being watered earlier that morning. When Mr. Ramaswamy questioned garden department staff, they had no clue about soil needs. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has a total of 220 gardens and playgrounds across eight nodes.
The civic chief’s questions on the top dressing of soil drew a blank from the garden department staff. The NMMC has also no records of top dressing of soil being undertaken by it or if the department had done any such process to all the gardens and between road dividers. The officials said they added soil or manure whenever required, but did not know about the need to follow the scientific procedure of top dressing of soil.
According to experts, garden soil needs proper care to grow plants or even some fruits or vegetables. You need to determine the soil pH level, nutrient content, and other factors. Right soil conditions will help in the successful growth of plants and flowers.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Ramaswamy said, “These things happen due to lack of domain knowledge. We have to ensure that respective departments hire the correct set of people. I am also talking to the State government regarding the recruitment. If people from the respective background and experience are part of any given department, things get channelised better.”
Mr. Ramaswamy has also asked the gardening department to maintain a strict check on the basic dos and don’ts of gardening. “Although the gardens are maintained, there are many things that need to be done. To ensure no basic things are missed, I have ordered the people to add a few points when new tender will be issued post monsoon.”
What is top dressing?
Top dressing is an application of a thin layer of soil over a turf grass area and is used to smooth and level the surface or to modify the soil condition, usually no more than ¼ to ½ inch. Top dressing is also used to control thatch, protect from extreme temperatures, and amend the soil medium around the root.
