The Hindu

• Apartments have no space for greenery
• Builders, promoters lay cement or interlocking bricks on the entire premises
• Licence document and commencement certificate stipulate owners of apartment block or individual houses to plant at least two trees

Mangalore, May 21: Mangalore has seen the worst summer this year. And with decreasing green cover in the city, it could get only worse.

In recent times, the city has got itself into a concrete trap. The open places, which once had one or two houses, now hold dozens of apartments. In the guise of keeping the premises clean, the apartment builders and promoters cover the entire yard with concrete or interlocking bricks leaving no space for water to seep in or for planting saplings.

The Mangalore City Corporation, which also has the responsibility to improve greenery in the city, looks the other way when it comes to taming the builders and apartment promoters. Though the clause in the licence document, commencement certificate as well as occupation certificate clearly directs owners of the apartment block or individual houses to plant at least two trees, there is no mechanism to check whether it is complied with.

According to a rough estimation, the city has about 100 multi-storeyed apartments, complexes and housing projects under construction and about 50 per cent of them are nearing completion. Only a few of them have made provision for some greenery around and rest of them have covered the ground with interlocking bricks.

The builders are of the opinion that if there is a garden, residents' associations will have to maintain it by appointing a gardener which will add to their monthly maintenance bill. Hardly anybody visits the garden, they say. Moreover after the National Building Code (NBC) came into force, there is less land available for constructing buildings.

Those buildings that have come up after the NBC came into being find it hard to provide vehicle parking place let alone space for planting saplings.

Mayor of Mangalore K Ashraf, however, wants corporation officials to strictly implement the rule on planting saplings in apartment blocks. He told that he would direct the Assistant Conservator of Forests attached to the Mangalore City Corporation to send circulars to all builders and owners of individual houses to comply with the rule.