Bhubaneswar: Several medians across the city have worn a barren look with the plants over it are dying without proper care, thanks to the civic body's apathetic attitude.
Several such medians could be found on some stretches from CRPF to Power House Square, Delta to Stewart School Square, Jayadev Vihar to Nandankanan and the Janpath. The situation is turning worse with the summer setting in.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has not only failed to maintain the plants, but also stopped watering those regularly. "The tree guards are falling as the plants are not being maintained regularly. I rarely see tankers sprinkling water on the plants," said Biswamitra Sahu, a fruit seller near the Stewart School.
Ironically, Janpath is the stretch where the authorities are undertaking the area-based development project of the smart city. The plants on this particular stretch have either grown wild because of non-maintenance or are dying in need of water. "It is highly irresponsible on part of the authorities to neglect the plants," said Happy Mohanty, a shopkeeper at Satya Nagar.
The medians, maintained by the civic body, remain unattended, while the ones, maintained in public-private partnership mode, are in good condition. Civic sources said such a situation prevailed as it did not have manpower.
"We have been maintaining most of the important medians in public-private partnership mode as we found it to be more feasible than to take up the job by ourselves. We have a number of bush cutters engaged with our private sanitation agencies but do not have any permanent worker employed directly with us," said a civic body official.
"Plants are important to maintain balance in the nature. The city is already witnessing a rise in the temperature. It is high time that the civic body realised their job," said environmentalist Alok Mohanty.
Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, on the other hand, said they would take up plantation drives and prepare plans to ensure their periodic maintenance. "We are strengthening our environment wing. The new officials in the wing will devise plans to maintain the city's greenery," said Jena.
