Nagpur: A public garden meant for children and senior citizens has become the centre of a disturbing drug scare after suspected marijuana plants were found growing inside a Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) garden at Gajanan Nagar, exposing glaring lapses in security, maintenance and civic surveillance.The suspected cannabis plants, discovered by local residents and captured on video, have raised uncomfortable questions over how an illegal plantation could flourish inside a municipal garden without being detected. Residents alleged that despite repeated complaints about anti-social elements using the premises as a late-night hangout, no effective action was taken. The garden being maintained by NMC’s garden department comes under Laxmi Nagar zone.Zone chairperson and senior BJP corporator Laxmi Yadav alleged that residents had been complaining for months about teenagers and young adults gathering inside the garden to consume marijuana and other intoxicants. According to her, youths aged between 16 and 19 years were frequently seen at the spot, but repeated complaints failed to produce any lasting action.“Police visited the garden after complaints, but no one was found during inspections. It was the residents who eventually discovered the suspected marijuana plants and recorded videos as evidence,” Yadav said.Yadav’s son, Karan, who visited the garden after the issue surfaced, claimed he found several suspected marijuana plants growing amid jasmine shrubs along the jogging track. “There were many such plants concealed between flowering bushes. This may not be the only municipal garden where marijuana is being cultivated illegally,” he said.Calling the incident alarming, Yadav said the civic body could no longer afford to leave public gardens unguarded.“Our future generation is getting trapped in addiction. Instead of taking temporary measures, NMC and city police must identify who planted these marijuana plants and crack down on the network behind them,” she said.The incident has once again exposed poor security arrangements in civic gardens. Yadav demanded deployment of watchmen and stronger surveillance, warning that unattended parks with dense vegetation have become easy targets for anti-social elements.The civic administration admitted that Gajanan Nagar garden had no security guard.Deputy municipal commissioner (garden) Ganesh Rathod told TOI that he had viewed the viral video and directed officials to inspect the site on Tuesday.“If anything objectionable is found during the inspection, a show-cause notice will be issued to those responsible and appropriate action will be taken,” Rathod said.He said NMC maintains 204 public gardens but does not have security guards at all of them. The civic body is now preparing a policy to deploy guards at vulnerable gardens based on requirements and reports of anti-social activity.Meanwhile, senior inspector Dhantoli police station Sainath Ramod said no formal complaint regarding the alleged marijuana plants or drug activity had been received.Even before the official inquiry begins, the incident has exposed glaring gaps in monitoring of public spaces. If suspected marijuana plants could grow unnoticed inside a municipal garden, residents are questioning how safe the city’s parks really are for children, families and senior citizens.
