Plan to improve 20 parks

The Tiruchi Corporation has planned to develop 20 public parks in the city on an outlay of about Rs.3.90 crore, making it the single largest investment made by the civic body in recent years for improvement of parks.

The Corporation hopes to get a significant portion of the funds for the programme as grant from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning. According to Corporation sources, the grant for improvement of parks and sports grounds given by the Housing and Urban Development Department has been increased to Rs.10 lakh from Rs.2.25 lakh.

While 90 per cent of the project cost for each park would come as grant from the Town and Country Planning Development Fund, the civic body would bear the remaining 10 per cent expenditure.

The Corporation would forward proposals to the Directorate of Town and Country Planning for improving the 20 parks — nine parks in K. Abishekapuram zone, five each in Ariyamangalam and Srirangam zones, and one in Golden Rock zone. The works would start once the approval was obtained.

The parks

The K.Abishekapuram zone, with its vast area of new residential colonies, would get the lion's share as per the Corporation proposals. The Corporation plans to develop the State Bank Colony Park, the J.J.Nagar Park, Visranthi Woods Park and Anna Nagar Zakir Hussain Street Park at a cost of Rs.30 lakh each.

The Lavanya Garden Park would be developed at a cost of Rs.25.50 crore while the South Ramalinga Nagar OHT Park is likely to get a facelift at an investment of Rs.22.50 lakh. The Corporation has planned an allocation of Rs.19.75 lakh for the P.T. Rajan Park at Woraiyur which is now in a rundown condition after being improved at a substantial investment some years back.

In Ariyamangalam zone, the maximum allocation of Rs.20 lakh is planned to be made for improving the Rathinavel Thevar Park. Two parks in Mahalakshmi Nagar and two in Housing Unit are also planned to be improved on a total estimate of Rs.70 lakh.

The Chinnasamy Park at Rajaram Salai in K.K.Nagar would be the sole park to be developed in the Golden Rock Zone with the Corporation planning an investment of Rs.10 lakh there.

The Kalmettu Street Park will get the major allocation of Rs. 22 lakh in Srirangam zone. This apart, the Yogam Nagar Park, Alamelu Avenue Park, Srinivasan Park and Karthikeyan Layout Park are planned to be improved at a total investment of Rs.59 lakh.

The Corporation, in its budget for 2012-13, has made an allocation of Rs.1.35 crore for creating five new parks in the city, officials pointed out and wherever the estimates are above Rs. 10 lakh, the remaining expenditure on each project would be met from the Corporation general fund.