Plan to give public parks a facelift

By T. Nandakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 2. The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is working on a project to renovate the neglected public parks in the city with the help of private sponsors. The pilot project at the Ponnara Sreedhar Park at Thampanoor is expected to be taken up soon. The Town Planning Committee is chalking out the details of the scheme with a private firm which has expressed willingness to beautify and maintain the parks.

The company has been asked to submit a detailed project report. According to the terms of the agreement which is being worked out, the sponsoring firm will have to bear the expenses for illumination, security and maintenance of the park in return for advertisement rights for a specific period. Corporation officials said the agreement would insist on unobtrusive advertisements without marring the beauty of the park. The Town Planning Committee will study the proposal submitted by the sponsors before taking a decision.

The sponsorship programme was initially mooted in the Corporation's budget for the year 2000-2001 which had earmarked an amount of Rs. 1 crore for renovation of 27 public parks in the city. Following confusion over the implementing agency, the proposal shuttled between the Engineering and Town Planning Departments for weeks. The matter was finally settled by the Corporation's steering committee which handed it to the Town Planning Department. But the project was eventually derailed by transition problems following the mid-budget elections to the council.

The committee chairman, Mr. Palayam Rajan, said the sponsorship programme was the only solution since the Corporation was hamstrung by the lack of adequate manpower to maintain the public parks. He said the current project involved the renovation of most of the major parks in the city from Thampanoor to Kesavadasapuram without any financial commitment from the Corporation.

Most of the public parks managed by the City 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 shunned by the public.

The parks are taken over by criminals and anti-social elements after nightfall. The Ponnara Sreedhar Park facing the Central railway station at Thampanoor presents the most pitiable sight with hordes of beggars, lepers, drug pushers and sex workers invading its precincts. It is also a major hub for the organised begging racket in the city which has inter-State connections. The proximity to the Thampanoor police station has failed to deter criminal elements from seeking shelter in the park.

The ornamental lamps which adorned the once verdant parks in the city have either been stolen or damaged. Burnt-out bulbs are seldom replaced and street lamps in the vicinity do not function. Saplings planted by Corporation gardeners are often stolen before they have turned their backs. Citizens complain that the parks double up as operating bases for burglars.

Civic officials argue that the local body's role is limited to the upkeep of the parks. "It is up to the police to keep undesirable elements away from these public places," they say.

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 have 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. There is no water connection for the park.

The Manacaud ward councillor, Mr. Chalai Mohan, says there is no reason why tanker lorries cannot be deployed to water the plants in parks. He feels that the lack of supervision over gardeners is the main reason for the poor upkeep of the parks. Mr. Mohan argues for stern action against the employees responsible for the plight of the parks.

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 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 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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Section  : Southern States
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