Hyderabad: Parks witness heavy footfalls in January

Tank Bund : Public who have been long waiting to escape claustrophobia finally started experiencing sigh of relief with parks reopened after lockdown restrictions. Several parks located in the heart of the city on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake (Tank Bund) witness huge footfalls since January 2021.

A group of visitors at Lumbini Park who came all the way from Malkajgiri said, "We have been exhausted as the year 2020 had been worse with corona pandamic and rains. We hope 2021 is going to be stress-free and enjoyable with the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, we are following the pandemic restrictions as well."

According to Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) officials, who maintain and manage parks across the Tank Bund, told that the number of visitors has increased.

The HMDA parks welcomed 4.40 lakh visitors in 2019, 1.83 lakh visitors in 2020, and 3.34 lakh visitors in January 2021 and the average number of visitors increased to 4,000 on Sundays and holidays.

Lumbini Park, NTR Garden and Sanjeevaiah Park, which are major tourist attractions in the city have been witnessing a record high number of visitors. Lumbini Park set its own record at nearly 1.83 lakh visitors in 2021, compared to 1.15 the previous year. Although visitors number has been steadily increasing over the past few years, the numbers like everything else in 2021, were unprecedented.

"During pandemic followed by lockdown, people were restricted to visit any of the places. Immediately after unlock, the city experienced heavy rains and floods. Only now people are finding relief from stress as they are being able to spend time with greenery. Fresh air is what people are enjoying," said, a HMDA official.