No plants in these planters
Welcome To CitySpidey

Location

No plants in these planters

Planters meant to beautify market-fronts in Dwarka have been reduced to garbage-dumping spots. It's a crying shame.

No plants in these planters

What could have been a beautiful feature in Dwarka markets is just an appalling sight to residents and visitors alike.  

The planters meant to beautify market-fronts are used as garbage-dumping spots across Dwarka. Ironically, very few of these planters have plants, and that too unkempt and straggly. 

Mahesh Gupta, general-secretary of RWA, Sector 5 DDA SFS Flats, says, “Every market in the sub-city has provision for planters. They are typically placed along the market boundary wall. Sadly, there's hardly a planter left that isn't being used to dump rubbish by the local shopkeepers and vendors. Moreover, several vendors and roadside eateries have encroached upon them.”

Planters in the markets of Sector 10, around Ashirvad Chowk, and the Post Office and Bank markets in Sector 6 are the worst affected. They are either filled with rubbish or encroached upon by vendors. “The condition is especially pathetic in the Sector 12 market. The stink from the waste-dumped planters has become unbearable,” says Ramesh Mumukshuan, general-secretary of RWA, Sector 16B, and an RTI activist.

Earlier, there were a few green planters in Sector 4 market. DDA's negligence, along with continued garbage dumping, has dried up all the plants. “The shops undergoing renovation dump their debris in the planters in front of them. How can the plants survive? All the debris has probably rendered the soil infertile. With no one to maintain these planters, the condition has reached an all-time low,” says Arvind Rudra, a resident of Sector 4.

Prem Chandra, DDA Deputy Director, Horticulture, told City Spidey, “We have started planting trees in some of the markets in Sectors 4 and 5. We are trying our best to spread awareness, starting with the shopkeepers in these markets. We have also written to the corporation to fine people who throw garbage. But without the support of the people, we are helpless.”