CHENNAI: A mass cleaning drive was taken up across the 871 parks in the city by the Greater Chennai Corporation on Friday. The officials also identified damaged infrastructures such as walkways, compound walls, toilets, and play and gym equipment in some parks and assured repair work.
The GCC maintains a total of 871 parks, including 165 under the control of the corporation, 88 adopted parks, 616 whose upkeep is outsourced, and two managed by the CMRL. The 6 am-12 pm drive witnessed removal of around 207.87 tonnes of garden waste and garbage, and 48.11 tonnes of construction debris.
Mayor R Priya inspected the cleaning works at Sivan Park in Kodambakkam Zone and also inaugurated a library in the park. Addressing media persons, she highlighted the cleaning of all the parks ahead of the monsoon season.
“All necessary repair work in the parks will be completed shortly. The corporation has also been conducting nighttime cleaning operations on major bus routes and interior roads for the past two months. We are also working to clear all the abandoned vehicles on the city streets,” she said.
In the days that immediately followed Cyclone Michaung last year, an average of 10,000 tonnes of garbage was cleared from the waterlogged areas daily. Hence, mass cleaning drives are being taken up as preparedness measures ahead of the monsoon.
“Five more staff have been assigned to each ward to carry out monsoon-preparatory works, and another five will be appointed next month to ensure effective response during the rains,” Priya added.
A corporation official told TNIE, “Though cleaning works happen regularly at the parks, a mass cleaning drive of this kind was conducted for the first time in the city. A cost estimate will be prepared soon based on the damaged infra details and measures will be taken to repair them.”