Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Pleasure park turns into mosquito kingdom

By Our Staff Reporter

Plastic bottles float on the moss-covered waters of Jala Udyanavanam lake in Visakhapatnam. (Right) Damaged wooden flooring in the pagoda. — Photo: K.R. Deepak

VISAKHAPATNAM: Peerla Koneru, once a pool of muddy water used by locals to answer nature's call or wash their cattle, was converted into a refreshing park with boating facility in the heart of the city, thanks to the efforts of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority. Is the Jala Udyana Vanam (as renamed by VUDA) turning into Peerla Koneru again?

Neglect in maintenance of the park is blatant with the moss on the water giving a shabby look and a foul smell emanating every time the wind blows over it. Faulty design has left no outlet for the water to facilitate a periodic change as the drains around are at a much higher level.

Last summer the tank dried up, but no one bothered to clean up the bed, and today thick grass and weeds jut out of the moss-covered water that has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The Municipal Corporation sprinkles anti-larval chemicals, but the 500-odd visitors daily find it difficult to even walk around it due to the stench emanating from it.

The wooden flooring of the pagoda-like structure at the centre of the pond has given way with two youth narrowly escaping accidentally falling through recently. VUDA has taken up repair of the wooden floor and is remodelling the existing restaurant as a mini stage for organising some cultural programmes to popularise the venue among visitors.

The task before VUDA, however, is to clear the tank of weeds and change the murky water that has entered the pool from the rainwater drain along the Suryabagh road running in front of the park in the last rainy season. The unclean water is slowly weaning away public from the park, and VUDA needs to take action immediately.

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