Local Administration department on a mission to improve existing parks, develop more recreation spaces in Puducherry

The long-pending demand of residents to have facilities in existing parks improved and more open spaces for recreation in the town and suburban areas could soon materialise with the Local Administration department drawing up a detailed plan for augmenting the amenities in public play areas in Puducherry.

For a long-time, the residents have been complaining about lack of play facilities in major parks, including the Bharathi Park and Venkata Nagar Park in Puducherry. The damaged play equipment and poor amenities inside the parks have been a talking point among the public.

Recently, reports of an unfriendly environment for children to play in Bharathi Park led to an inspection by Raj Bhavan legislator Vignesh Kannan. Similarly, a video of people complaining about foul smell emanating from Venkata Nagar Park had recently surfaced on social media platforms.

“We have worked out a plan for augmenting facilities in all important parks and for developing more open spaces for recreation. A detailed project report has been prepared by the engineers of the LAD for the development of 20 parks costing around ₹30 crore. It will be a complete rehaul of the existing facilities in the parks,” an official told The Hindu.

The report has been prepared after consulting local legislators and residents. A team from LAD had visited the Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Bengaluru, to obtain their views on making the existing parks more attractive and people-friendly. The views of the institute was considered to make the parks more accessible to women, elderly and differently abled persons, the official said.

A detailed plan has been worked out for the beautification of Bharathi Park, renovation of Ayee Mandapam and revitalisation of Venkata Nagar Park. The Bharathi park would be developed in phases by availing funds under a sub-scheme of Centre’s Swadesh Darshan. The park would get a facelift with the completion of the beautification work, the official said.

Besides, the Oulgaret Municipality has submitted a detailed proposal for the development of eight new parks on Open Space Reserve lands handed over by layout promoters to the local bodies. With project identification and preparation complete, the department was exploring various avenues, including under SSASCI scheme and NABARD loan, for funding the projects, another official said.

Also, the department planned to tap funds provided under a special scheme ‘Chief Minister’s Local Administration Development Path Scheme (Mudhalamaichar Ullaatchi Valarchi Paadhai Thittam)’ introduced in the current Budget. “For the first time, a comprehensive five-year plan comprising 2,282 works at an estimated cost of ₹1,131 crore has been prepared for implementation by the department. The projects that could be taken up under the five-year plan included development of parks,” the official said.