Pune Garden Department

Objective

Inception & History

Organization

Past Projects

Future Initiatives

NGOs

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Acknowledgement

Inception and History

Pune Municipal Corporation

PMC has formed in 1950. PMC area limit is 138 km2 and at that time the population was 6.06,777 lakhs. Gardens were 17 in numbers. In 1991, area was increased to 145.92 km2. And population was 1566651 lakhs and gardens were 44 numbers and 2 numbers of Zoological parks and according to tree census in 1996, total trees were about 35 lakhs.

In 20004, total numbers of gardens are 62, one Zoological park and total trees are in city more than 60 lakhs and 35 gardens are in developing stages. Soil has been examined in order to select various plant species. Accordingly pH is 6.5 to 7.5. Soil is best for healthy growth of trees.

PMC

Areawise plantation is as under

Ownership of land where works are undertaken	Area in Hectares	Area Description
Private Land	05.5	Hill Slopes, Rocky and Light Soil
One Land	197.11	Rocky, Hilly, Wasteland and Sandy Soil
Community Land	--	--
Revenue Land	--	--
TOTAL	202.16

Pune Garden Department

Public Gardens have acquired place of immense importance in the city life. Due to ever increasing population cities are growing congested with time. Citizens need open spaces for relaxing and entertainment, in the evening after day's hard work. Open spaces provide them open air, which is important not only for their physical health but also for reviving them mentally. Public Gardens are truly the lungs of the city. Urbanization has got impetus in our country. Thus importance of public gardens is growing with Urbanization and Industrialization.

Growth of Gardens in Pune is mainly observed in the last century. The number of Gardens gone up after Pune came under British Rule. There were some Gardens in Pune under Rule of Peshwas. But not much information is available regarding the same. According to the information available, not many Public Gardens were developed in that period. It is evident that modern Gardens were developed only under British Rule.

Pune Gardens

The Gardens in Pune can be classified roughly in two categories. Some Gardens were developed by British Officers in 19th Century. In these Gardens Trees, Plants, Climbers etc. of different varieties can be seen. These Gardens are famous as "Botanical Gardens". The basic intention of British Officers or Professors in developing these Gardens was to study and acquire the knowledge about the trees. For that purpose trees from Europe, Australia, America, Africa, Shri Lanka, Myanmar etc. were planted in these old Gardens. To get the calm and serene place for resting was the secondary purpose behind developing these Gardens. Botanical Gardens in Pune were mainly developed as per the concept of Gardens in England in 19th Century.

Gardens of the other category are developed in modern ways. Lawns, Floral Plants, Shrubs and big trees were given priority. These Gardens are developed mainly after year 1950, i e after establishment of Pune Municipal Corporation

New Gardens and Houses in Pune

It can be said that there was not a single remarkable Garden developed by Municipal council till year 1938. But with the growing expanse and population of the city need of Garden was felt, after First World War. New buildings were developed on many "Bakhal" places (Old barren places) in 20 years between years 1918 to 1938. Due to this development, scarcity of open spaces was felt.

With the growing congestion and population scarcity of Gardens was felt like never before. Considering this Pune Municipal Council started planned development of various public Gardens one by one, particularly from year 1938. Following Gardens were opened to public after development

• Sambhaji Garden
• Jijamata Garden
• Daruwalla Bridge
• Shivaji Park
• Khadi Maidan Garden
• Powerhouse Garden
• Kumbharwada Garden

Pune Municipal Council spent almost Rs. 10,000/- towards development of aforementioned Gardens. All of these Gardens were in original form, without any improvement, from year 1938 to year 1950, period of 12 years.

With establishment of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in year 1950 new era was started in the history of Gardens. During Second World War unprecedented growth in population of city was observed. With the increased need following Gardens were developed after year 1950

Before the above gardens came were developed, when PMC came in to existence, it took over about 18 Gardens from Municipal Council. A change was made in the administration of the Gardens. Previously the administration of various Gardens was under different officers, generally the overseers of concerned areas. These officers had limited knowledge about the development of Gardens. The development of Gardens was not done scientifically. Also there was no homogeneity in the administration of these Gardens. Considering all these factors a separate Department was created for administration of all the Gardens in the city from 1st April 1950. A Garden superintendent was appointed as Head of the Department. All the Gardens expanded and thrived under supervision of Garden superintendent.

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