Makeover of Hyderabad parks at a turtle's pace

Hyderabad: Exactly 10 months ago, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had decided to develop as many as 55 theme parks in the city, raising the hopes of people who were not able to utilise the parks as most of them were in bad condition. However, till date, not even a single park is ready.

The delay in completion of the theme parks has forced residents of various areas to use the existing parks which are poorly equipped, whereas, some parks have been developed with all facilities.

There are around 900 parks, including those in colonies, tree parks and theme parks under the Greater Hyderabad, according to the Department of Urban Biodiversity, GHMC.

A GHMC official, while citing several reasons for halting development and renovation of parks in the city, agrees that there is still a lot of work to be done by various departments. He said developing, renovating, and maintaining a park involves five wings--Urban Biodiversity, Sports, Engineering, Electrical and Sanitation.

"A few works have been started, but are yet to be completed, as all the five departments are busy in working on lakes and other development work related to monsoon emergency," he added.

Till now, not even a single park in the city has been made operational for the public. Most work of various parks has been stopped and left unattended.

Residents who love to take a walk during morning and evening hours are facing difficulties as they don't have proper parks.

Development of 55 parks was announced in January 2021. The municipal corporation had also promised that the existing parks will also be renovated with infrastructure, basic amenities, and innovative elements to attract more footfalls. But, instead, a large number of people have stopped visiting parks as they had to face hardships due to garbage pile up in parks leaving foul smell.

Several local residents also alleged that the colony parks are not being maintained by the civic body. Most lighting poles in parks are not working for the last two years, but no official is bothered to fix them.