The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation’s ambitious plan of renovating major public parks in the city with private participation has failed to make much headway with some of the parks lying in utter neglect.
The state of the P.T. Rajan Park at Woraiyur, one of the major parks in the city which until a few years ago had been a popular hangout of residents in Woraiyur and Thillai Nagar areas, is a case in point.
A few years ago, the corporation had invested heavily on developing the park with landscaped gardens and amusement enclosures. A children’s amusement enclosure, named “Vanna Kalanchiam”, was established and the park was being maintained by a public sector bank for sometime. The park turned out to be a huge draw among the city residents.
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Today, the park had been shorn of its glory. Except for a few trees, the greenery has vanished. Damaged concrete structures remain at places were artificial fountains had been installed. Amusement equipment have been badly damaged and are worn out. The children’s amusement game zone, including “ball pits” and slides and other equipment, have been completely damaged. Broken iron rails and rusted steel edges pose a threat to the few visiting children. With the corporation unable to maintain it, the park has now become a refuge for anti-social elements and some even be seen drinking liquor in open spaces. The civic body has taken up some renovation works, which primarily aim at repairing the damaged compound walls and pavements. But the allocation of a mere Rs. 10 lakh is inadequate, says R. Arivudainambi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillor, representing the ward.
“The corporation has previously allocated Rs. 25 lakh for the renovation of the park. But subsequently, the estimate was reduced to Rs. 10 lakh. The compound wall has to be built afresh by erecting pillars, but now just repairs were being carried out,” says Mr. Arivudainambi.
Mr. Arivudainambi says the park has been developed some years ago and all this had come to a nought because of poor maintenance. “People used to flock the park as there is no other leisure hangout in the area and at one point entry fee collections touched Rs. 2,000 a day. Even newly weds would come here to take pictures,” he says.
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A corporation officer, when contacted, said that renovation work now under way was mainly aimed at securing the park site. Further development could be taken up with fresh allocation later. He said the estimate was reduced as previously provisions had been made for high mast lamps. But now since the civic body was installing LED lamps in all parts of the city, there was no necessity for high-mast lamps, he said.