Andhra Pradesh: Municipal dept. gears up to construct 125 parks in 32 municipalities

The municipal department of Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to provide relief to the people of the towns who are worried that there are no parks and playing places in municipalities. As part of the AMRUT scheme, construction of parks and activities to enhance greenery have been undertaken. In the first phase, it was decided to increase the parks with greenery along with the construction of 125 parks in 32 municipalities where the population is less than one lakh. Construction of parks and maintenance of vacant lands are being carried out as per central government guidelines.

A total of 125 parks will be built at a rate of at least two parks in each municipality. Authorities have identified available places for this. The spacious park, with exercise equipment, fountain construction as well as landscaping would be constructed and plants will be grown along the main roads in the towns. As many as 95 works will be done at a cost of Rs 92.10 crore to enhance parks and greenery while 87 works have already been started.

The state municipality is following the guidelines of the central urban development for the construction of parks in towns and for vacant lands as per regulations. In the urban colonies, parks will be built on 5,000 square meters, community parks on 10,000 to 15,000 square meters and the main park in the district centre on 50,000 to 2.50 lakh square meters. Municipalities should have 10 to 12 square meters of free space per citizen. Accordingly the towns were divided into A, B, and C grades. Larger municipalities are required to be in A grade, while smaller municipalities are required to be in B grade. The municipal officials has made it clear to the municipal commissioners that there should be no towns in grade C. ENC Chandraiah said parks would be built to enhance greenery in towns.