Let's not treat public property with disdain

This paper ran a front page report on an oxygen hub made by the BMC at Hanging Gardens. The circular space, which can be accessed through a flight of stairs going below ground level, has at least 100 plants within. They are neatly labelled and placed inside. Public access to the space is free. The community is struck by the BMC's gift to the locals.

The civic authorities converted an old bawdi (well) into an oxygen hub, said a report in this paper. It highlighted that the facility was made at a very low cost to the civic body too. In a nice touch, the authorities asked senior citizens to be present at the inauguration and even invited suggestions from them.

It is up to locals now to respect the new space and use it in the correct way. The Hanging Gardens and Kamala Nehru Park opposite are big tourist spots.

We have seen youngsters as old at 17 and 18 using the children's facilities in the park. They clamber over spaces that are cordoned off to take selfies. The iconic Old Woman's Shoe, such a delight for children, has to be repainted at times because people clamber on the shoe instead of inside it.

Several times, it is impossibly crowded, too. It is most shocking that teenagers and adults, including parents do flout park rules.

The new oxygen hub is a small, circular space with neatly labelled foliage, all meant to be educative. One hopes that people treat it well, learn from it and in fact, imaginations are fired up to treat this with care and preserve it for all.

We, rightly have a reputation of treating public property with disdain and are negligent when things are 'others' not 'ours'. We do not need to be governed by security all the time, this has to come from within.

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