COIMBATORE: Rusty benches, contorted slides, damaged seesaws, broken swings, mangled merry-go-round and disrupted jungle gym are the face of the majority of the Corporation parks across the city.
Most of the parks built by the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) have turned into a lair for anti-social elements. Lack of maintenance works has pushed the parks into a state of abandonment. Currently, a survey is underway to record all public parks and the state they are in, sources told TNIE.
"With annual exams ending soon and summer holidays approaching in a few weeks, the CCMC must take action to revive public parks at the earliest," urged Maya Krishnan, a resident of Cheran Nagar.
"As fuel prices are sky-rocketing and traffic congestion is making travel tiresome, it would be nice to have a park in the locality to entertain children," she added.
But the majority of public parks are in bad shape and several others have turned into a hub for illegal activities and tipplers. This keeps residents away from the parks. Social activists and residents have demanded the CCMC to revive the parks by restoring or replacing the equipment in playgrounds. Senior citizens have also urged the Corporation to revive them so that they would have a place to walk.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara said they were planning to outsource the maintenance works of the public parks. "Due to labour shortage and other reasons, we are looking to outsource the maintenance works to private players. As some resident welfare associations have done a good job in maintaining the parks, which they had undertaken, we are also looking at that option. Any resident welfare association willing to take up the public parks under their control and carry out maintenance works on their own are welcome," he added.