Project to renovate public parks

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 18. The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is toying with a project to renovate the public parks in the city with the help of private sponsors. The next meeting of the standing committee on Town planning is to take up a proposal submitted by a private firm to renovate and maintain the parks in return for advertising rights.

The Corporation's budget for the year 2000- 2001 had earmarked an amount of Rs. 1 crore for renovation of 27 public parks in the city. In his budget speech, the former Mayor, Mr. V. Sivankutty, had pointed to the need for a sponsorship programme to renovate and maintain the parks, in view of the lack of adequate manpower. But the mid-budget elections to the council posed transition problems, derailing the project.

The proposal submitted by the private firm shuttled between the Engineering and Town Planning departments for weeks following confusion over the implementing agency. The matter was finally settled by the Corporation's steering committee which handed it to the Town Planning department.

Corporation officials said the project report had been forwarded to the Town Planning section. After clearance from the standing committee, it will be sent to the council for approval.

The committee chairman, Mr. Palayam Rajan, said the project involved the renovation of most of the major parks in the city from Thampanoor to Kesavadasapuram without any financial commitment from the Corporation. He said the firm had agreed to abide by the terms and conditions of the local body.

Most of the public parks managed by the Corporation are characterised by bare, withered lawns, broken benches, overgrown shrubs and damaged fences. Designed to function as green belts and recreational centres, the parks have evidently failed to live up to their purpose. With successive administrators and city planners turning a blind eye to the plight of the parks, they have become virtual eye sores.

The parks are taken over by criminals and anti-social elements after nightfall. The ornamental lamps which once adorned the verdant gardens have either been stolen or damaged. Burnt- out bulbs are seldom replaced and street lamps in the vicinity do not function.

The dark precincts of the parks provide ideal operating grounds for anti-social elements and beggars. Local residents complain that the parks are a safe haven for criminals. Saplings planted by Corporation gardeners are often stolen before they have turned their backs.

Corporation authorities argue that their role is limited to the upkeep of the parks. They maintain that it is up to the police to keep undesirable elements away from these public places.

The 1996-97 Corporation budget had a proposal to set up a medicinal plant garden at the Sreekanteswaram park but the herbarium remains on paper. A senior Corporation official said ward councillors had a prominent role to play in mobilising people's support for the upkeep and maintenance of the parks.

Last year, some of the major parks including the Gandhi park at East Fort were taken up for renovation under the People's Plan Campaign. But upkeep and maintenance has suffered due to the lack of follow-up action by the Corporation. The water tank in the Gandhi Park has dried up and the plants are withering away. Corporation sources said there was no water connection for the park.

The Manacaud ward councillor, Mr. Chalai Mohan, said there was no reason why tanker lorries could not be deployed to water the plants in parks. He called for stern action against the employees responsible for the plight of the park. The lack of supervision over gardeners is cited as the main reason for the poor upkeep of the parks. The Corporation budget for the last year had allocated an amount of Rs. 30 lakhs for the gardeners.

Some years back, the Corporation had tried out a sponsorship scheme for traffic islands, hoping to extend it to parks at a later stage. Under the ambitious scheme, the sponsoring firm would beautify the traffic park and maintain it in return for the rights to display unobtrusive advertisements.

The scheme was first implemented at the Bakery junction. But the project soon ran into a tangle of red tape and bureaucratic hurdles. The scheme soon fizzled out and the traffic islands remain overgrown and neglected. Residents associations have also fought shy of adopting the parks within residential areas.

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