Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

Walking tracks at parks in bad shape

— Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar

Crying for attention: A mass of hyacinth spoils the lake developed by the Guntur Municipal Corporation at Gujjangundla

GUNTUR: A mass of hyacinth spoils the view at the serene walking track-cum-park abutting the water tank at Gujjanagundla.

The green mass covers almost half the lake and points to the utter neglect of the walking track. Yet it is one of the recently developed walking tracks in Guntur as part of a project funded by Andhra Pradesh Urban Services for the Poor (APUSP) by the Guntur Municipal Corporation.

Similar is the fate of nine other walking tracks developed by the GMC during the last three years. The parks have been bereft of any maintenance with few residential associations taking up the responsibility.

When the project was envisaged during the tenure of then Municipal Commissioner Siddharth Jain in 2008, it was planned that after GMC clear the area and build the walking track and the residential welfare associations would maintain them. Apart from developing the vacant sites, the GMC also hoped that the sites would be protected from encroachment. But three years down the lane, the parks have turned an eye-sore. With the cash-strapped GMC not keen on further investing in these parks, they have been left without regular maintenance.

The GMC developed 10 similar walking tracks in vacant reserve sites located at fringe colonies, which have witnessed development in the last couple of years. Each of the sites has a play ground with a fence and a small park. Benches were constructed for the benefit of elderly persons. The sites, which have been identified for developing into parks, were Udyoga Nagar at Gujjangundla, Gandhi statute centre at Koretipadu, H.L.R Compound site at Lakshmipuram, Indira Priyadarshini Colony and second lane in Vidya Nagar.

For instance, a murky pond spread over an acre of vacant reserve site at Smriti Vanam in RTC Colony, which was once breeding ground for mosquitoes and a habitation for pigs and street dogs, has been developed into a beautiful park. But the park has turned into what it looked three years ago.

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