Hyderabad: Newly-developed parks in Trimulgherry turn into dump yard
HYDERABAD: Unlike several other colonies in the city, P&T Colony in Trimulgherry has two municipal parks. Though they were developed a year ago, residents are yet to enjoy the lung space. Pitifully, the parks, one sprawling over an area of 4 acres and another over 1.5 acres, are slowly turning into dump yards. Worse, residents complain, anti-social elements take over the parks at nightfall and create nuisance.
The colony is in Ward No. 5 of the Secunderabad Cantonment area and has 2,000-odd residents. Though the parks are equipped with play areas for children and walkways for elders, lack of maintenance has led to thick growth of vegetation, rendering the places useless for recreation.
A Swathi, a resident, said that the two parks failed to serve the basic purpose of providing lung space. “We thought we would have the much-needed lung space in the colony. But the parks have been locked down for the past one year. Forget the lung space, the parks are now becoming garbage dump yards,” she said and pointed out that there was no lighting or security at the parks.
Colony secretary Janardhan Reddy pointed out that the two parks were closed by the Cantonment Board. “In order to develop the colony we had handed over 40 per cent of the total land area to SCB. The land was meant for park and community hall. Though the board developed the parks and built the community hall in a couple of months, the parks’ gates have remained locked. SCB officials have not paid heed to our requests for opening of the parks,” he said.
When contacted, SCB’s planning assistant engineer Phanni Kumar confirmed receipt of several requests for opening of the parks. “Residents have been complaining about anti-social elements misusing the parks at night. We have advised the colony residents association members to install CCTV cameras. Since they have not done that, we have decided to close down the parks,” he claimed.