A public park at Tiruvallur Street in Tirumangalam has been begging for attention for years now as the facilities here are either damaged or lost. This is the only park available for the residents in the neighbourhood.
For years, the park has had visitors of all ages, most of them coming from the quarters nearby built by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in the 1970s.
Parents found it convenient to take their children there for outdoor activities as it had many swings and equipment. Senior citizens, on the other hand, spent quality time here chatting with their friends. “At one point, the park remained crowded during the evening hours with children making maximum use of the facilities. During the weekends, most of the residents came here with friends and families,” says G. Devi, a resident of Tirumangalam. Sadly, things did not remain the same. The park was never given a facelift by the civic body after it was opened more than a decade ago. Most of the play equipment are damaged. The tiled pathway is broken at many spots. The motor pump set used for watering the park has not been used for many months now. The squalid condition of the park has forced the residents to travel to other parks. Residents either have to go to Choolaimedu, Arumbakkam or Tower Park in Anna Nagar. Repeated complaints by residents to give the park a facelift have fallen in deaf ears. Anna Nagar has many senior citizens , including retired government servants who settled there in the 1970s when the neighbourhood was developed as part of city expansion. With wide roads, board footpaths, adequate street lights, Anna Nagar has parks for each colony within its jurisdiction. The park in Tirumangalam is one such facility in the neighbourhood and it deserves attention. “Efforts would be taken to upgrade the park with modern facilities soon,” said a Corporation official.
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