Parks in C''magaluru bereft of basic amenities

The public parks in Chikkamagaluru town lack maintenance. Thick bushes, weeds grown all over and garbage mounds welcome visitors to the park.

Several parks in the town do not have proper seating arrangements, play area for children, even a compound wall and an entrance gate. Instead of becoming a lung space and recreation centre, the parks have turned into a haven for miscreants and have become a hub of illegal activities.

Parthenium plants outnumber other flower-bearing plants or shade trees at Water Tank Park at Gaurikaluve. Asbesto sheets, scrap materials and garbage are dumped inside the park. The iron rods of the compound wall of the park has been removed at a few places. Even the hand pump inside the park has become defunct.

On the other hand, chainlink mesh of the Veera Savarkar Park at Uppalli Layout has been damaged. The residents have been stocking M sand, gravel for construction activities inside the park. The play materials of slide, swing inside the park have gone missing.

Local residents allege that Madhuvana Park in Madhuvana Layout has turned into a den of miscreants.

Nagarasabhe Udyanavana (municipal park) on water tank premises at Santhemala has turned into a parking area for vehicles. Nearby workshops have stocked spare parts and other materials inside the park. Similar is the story of a park near Panchamukhi Varasiddi Vinayaka Swamy temple at Housing Board Layout, Maruthinagara Layout, Nalluru Gate, Togarihankal. Liquor bottles, sachets, cigarette packets, old clothes adorn the parks. A few inebriated people even end up sleeping on the compound wall of the park

The residents alleged that some extent of land belonging to the parks has been encroached upon. They demand that the parks be revived by providing civic amenities.

Municipal Commissioner K Parameshi said that funds had not been earmarked separately for the development of parks. “Funds from SFC grants need to be used for the development of parks. The work on six parks will be taken up under Amrut scheme.”

Walking track, seating arrangement, compound walls and other basic amenities will be provided to the parks. The parks will be developed in a phased manner. Any association can take up the responsibility of maintaining the park in their locality, he added.

In an era of growing urbanisation parks serve as a crucial lung space and hence are a basic civic amenity. It forms the utmost responsibility of the local administration to develop and maintain parks in public interest.