Meet Cdr VK Sharma, the man who converted dump yard to community park

The beautiful park that you see in M 340 in Sector 25 was a dumping ground some years ago. This space between residential flats in Jal Vayu Vihar has been transformed into an eco-friendly park in 15 years with the non-stop
efforts by Cdr V.K. Sharma.

The dump yard was once a breeding ground for many insects and a filthy stench ruled the surroundings. This is now replaced with fragrant flowers and a space for residents to relax. Paying his tribute to his journey as Commander of Navy, the park also includes an anchor made with the help of pebbles.

Commander VK had a  passion for gardening since childhood. He always planted trees in vacant areas near his house. After 25 years of service as Commander of Navy and 10 years in merchant navy (Mumbai), he decided to dedicate his time to his family and grandchildren.

One fine evening, his wife Suniti Sharma suggested he take up his old hobby again. Sharma looked at the decrepit dump yard and decided to take up the challenge. This is where the seeds of the garden were first sown.

Cdr. V.K.Sharma says, “Cleaning this place was the most tedious task. This was a barren, unproductive wasteland. Full of building materials, bottles, nuts, decayed dead rats, cardboards, broken plastics, glass and more. That time it was unimaginable to think one day it will look this beautiful".

Sharma took every bit of his knowledge in plants to create this garden. He started working on this park around 15 years back.

The whole garden is covered with tiny shrubs, the beautiful flowery creeps, this park now there are Seasonal Winter Flowers, Herbal Plants, Evergreen Plants, Decorative Plants, Oxygen Plants and a family of Cactus Plants like Christmas cactus, cholla cactus, moon cactus, golden barrel cactus, prickly pear cactus. In winter plants, he has grown Marigold, Dahlia flower, Hybrid Dogflower of two colours, Verbena, Petunia, gazania, Aster Plant, Penji, Phlox, Calendula flower, Salvia, Hollyhocks, yellow and white stock and Burf etc. In the herbal plants, there are Mint, Neem, Karipatta, Harsinghar and tulsi among others. 

While talking to CitySpidey, he said "the spider plant, snake plant, aloe vera, areca ficus, money plant, tulsi are the oxygen generating plants and should be kept indoors to increase the oxygen level high, they decrease the pollutant content hence give a healthy sleep. More than 8 kinds of money plants such as golden money plant, split-leaf money plant, marble queen money plant, marble prince money plant, silver money plant, swiss cheese money plant, big leaf money plant, jade plant have been planted here."

While creating the garden, Sharma made use of every discarded good to create something beautiful. He decorated the flower vases, pots on the discarded marble slabs. The broken vase, the plastic tubs, the pots, the broken iron gate, window beams, the big stone, bricks, stones, the slabs of marbles pieces, each thing was used diligently in the creation of this garden. We collected them and used them. These things which were useless for others, gave a good look to the garden when recycled properly by the experienced hands.

"Everything was thrown in this dumping yard, he filtered that dump and recycled it. Made corners out of that waste to plant more trees, to divide the space into decorative plants, oxygen plants etc., made small mountains to give a designer look to the garden, made entry-exit gate using the broken and discarded iron gate." informs his wife, Suniti Sharma.

On talking about roses, he says the salty water didn’t allow the rose to bloom properly, and the aphids pest attacks the rose as soon as its bud blooms. Due to the saltiness in water, the aphid's pests find a way to harm the rose.

He says, “All these flowers are grown by my hands. We have a gardener who also looks after the garden and takes proper care of this garden."

Cdr V.K Sharma has won many awards for this noble cause. His interest has made him win First prize seven times from multiple organisations from 2016 to 2022. His efforts were recognized by the Jalvayu Community Centre.

The FSN, Floricultural Society oF Noida, recently judged his garden virtually and he stood first in the category of roadside garden. He will be awarded by the FSN on 5th March 2022 Saturday, at sector 8 nursery Noida for converting a dumping yard into a community garden and maintaining it so well.