TIRUCHY: Overwhelmed with complaints about the poor maintenance of several of the city's public parks, the corporation, after having tried vainly to lease out its parks in August, has recently requested councillors to make attempts to get sponsorship to conduct maintenance of parks in their respective areas, sources said. The results so far, have not been fruitful.
"Even residents' associations in posh areas have shown no interest in sponsoring the maintenance of parks in their area. The corporation will have to seek other means of funding for maintaining the city parks," said a prominent councillor. Some councillors say they are planning to raise the issue in the upcoming session.
"Some of us had already raised the issue in the previous session. But, the mayor himself said that the issue happened as the previous government unnecessarily constructed so many parks in the city. Whatever the reason, we have to keep funds to maintain the existing 310 parks," another councillor said.
With the civic body likely to face several other financial requirements in the rainy season, officials said the corporation is unlikely to act immediately on the issue. "We cannot prioritise this issue right now because during the monsoon we will have to keep a high alert on floor-prone areas and areas close to Uyyakondan banks.
If these areas face structural damage, we have to ensure an immediate response, though it is unlikely to happen since the strength of retaining walls of canal banks and water bodies was recently monitored before the monsoon.
However, we have to be prepared for such emergencies. Similarly, we have to keep a close watch on the spread of diseases during the monsoon," a senior corporation official explained. Meanwhile, residents have said the corporation has to find a solution to the issue at the earliest.
"There is no point blaming the previous administration. The current administration has to come up with a solution. They can even raise the issue with the state government and request funds," said A Suresh, a resident of Puthur.