Mature plants are dying in Utsav and the Village

1. Malis dont work despite payment : Non-watering of hedges (by the side of the blocks) and 'pattis' (3 ft wide soil between the path in the garden and the park edge where trees and hedges are grown) for as long as 15 days at a time has been ROUTINE in the entire Village for years, including in 2012. This watering has to be done by hand-held pipe rather than sprinklers and the malis slink off to rest in the shade during duty hours rather than work.
2. We pay for supervision but dont get it : Payment is done for Horticulture Supervisors separately for Utsav, Villas and the Club. There is also an overall supervisor for the Ashiana Village, and a visiting Supervisor from Delhi from Horticulture consultant Khan. And VML staff themselves are paid to ensure that the contracted services work. But none of this supervision is actually carried out to the extent paid for.
3. Large trees and bushes die in the summer for lack of watering : This is why every summer, scores of plants die and the complex appears unsightly in parts. Costly replacements are done after months of follow-up by concerned residents. Only to die again the next summer. The plants that die include 10/15 feet tall trees, big bushes and small ones, including in 2012.  

While this photo are from the garden of Villas in Ashiana village, next doors to Utsav and in the same compelx, I remember seeing similar dead / heavily stressed out trees and hedges in Utsav too. For example, a tall tree opposite block 3 died and fell down a few days ago, Guptaji of block 3 told me.


Anjana Mehta, M-023, Blk 3