NGO cultivates vegetables on Ram Bagh park against agreement

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 8

Violating the norms of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the MoU between the ASI and the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, an NGO, headed by MC councillor and opposition leader in MC House, cultivated vegetables in a park of the historic Ram Bagh. Ironically, the MC had allotted around half an acres of land to grow vegetables without any written agreement with the NGO. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu had reportedly allowed it verbally.

The office-bearers of the NGO, Phulkari, claimed that they had been growing organic vegetables to educate women and children in the city. However, the NGO has enclosed the park with green farm net and no such education programme is being conducted. The NGO has been growing seasonal vegetables, including cauliflower, mustard, tomatoes, chilly and spinach. These crops have good commercial value.

Sandha Sikka, president of Phulkari and opposition leader in MC house, said, “The land was lying barren and presented an ugly look. We took this initiative to develop a model of organic vegetable farming. We cleaned the land and beautified it. It is not encroachment. We are not going to earn anything from this project.”

Sandeep Singh, Executive Engineer, horticulture wing of MC, said, “The land was not in use. The garbage was lying there. The women associated with the NGO developed the model of organic vegetable farm. There is no written agreement with the MC in this regard. But there is no issue if someone gets the land to beautify it.”

Meanwhile, office-bearers of the Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), who have been fighting a legal battle to remove encroachments from Ram Bagh Garden, raised several questions on the move of the MC and demanded to shift the custodianship of the garden from the MC to the district administration.

Charanjit Singh Gumtala, patron of the AVM, said, “It is strange the MC has allowed commercial farming and ruined the garden. The MC deliberately dumps garbage in the garden so that someone come and encroach the land on the pretext of beautifying it. More than 50 per cent area of the garden is encroached by influential people and the remaining is roads and parking lots. Now, the MC is going to hand over another large park to some religious group for satsang. We will submit the photographs of these violations in the court on the next hearing and also demand to shift the custodianship of the garden from the MC to the Deputy Commissioner’s office.”

It is worth mentioning here that the historic Ram Bagh is a protected monument of the ASI and as per the memorandum signed between the ASI and the MC, commercial activity is banned inside the garden.