Stem the urge to pluck flowers

Hundreds of acres of land in this desert city have become green and colourful, thanks to the efforts of the Parks and Horticulture Department of the Dubai Municipality that has set an ambitious goal of turning eight per cent of the city green by 2020.

Though a vast majority of the residents and visitors admire and feel happy about the roadside greenery in Dubai, some miscreants have occasionally damaged the landscaping done by municipal workers. And many people are not aware that there is a penalty for this.

Plucking and damaging flowers and plants or damaging the roadside landscaping is punishable with a fine of Dh1,000, according to Director of the department Ahmed Abdul Kareem.

“We spend a lot of money and put in a lot of effort to beautify the city and keep it an environment-friendly place. If anybody tries to tamper with the flowers, plants and grasses, we will issue Dh1,000 fine and they will also have to bear the cost of the damaged property,” he told Khaleej Times.

The official did not provide statistics for those who have been fined. However, he said one of the recent cases involved a few men who plucked bunches of flowers from the roadside for selling them.

He said the municipality will also fine people who use the landscaped areas for sitting over or lying down. “These are not the areas for resting. But, some workers still go and sit and, sometimes, sleep on the roadside grasses and spoil them.”

He said it was the responsibility of companies to provide proper shelter for workers when they take a break. “If the company is not providing a shelter, there are different departments to look into that. But, sleeping on the roadside grasses is a mistake by individuals and it is caused by their irresponsible behaviour. So, we will fine them, not the company. They are damaging the environment and they are also putting their own lives at risk by sitting and lying down close to the roads,” said Abdul Kareem.

“We have six major parks, four lake or pond parks and 38 community parks across Dubai and the distance between the two closest parks will not be more than one kilometre. So, there is no excuse for using the landscaped areas.”

sajila@khaleejtimes.com