Lacking facilities, Venkata Nagar Park has been begging for attention for long

Neglected Venkata Nagar Park in Puducherry needs urgent attention due to damage, waterlogging, and mosquito-breeding. CPI protested to urge govt. to act. Oulgaret Municipality has a plan to renovate the park with solar lighting, play equipment, seating, and more. Private agencies may help with CSR programmes.

The Venkata Nagar Park has been begging for attention as facilities for walkers and children are either damaged or lost. The ongoing spell of rain has added to the woes of people with waterlogging and damage to the seats.

As the park has been going without maintenance for long, the play equipment have been damaged or lost. The tiled pathways for walkers have been damaged.

“The park has been neglected for a long time. The pathways and the wooden seats have damaged further in the recent rain. Adding to our woes is the problem of waterlogging. Even a few minutes of rain results in inundation. We are scared to go in for morning walk as the park has become a fertile ground for mosquito-breeding,” says Ravikanth, a resident of 45-Feet Road.

The Puducherry government has been urging members of the public to keep residential premises clean because of the increase in dengue cases. But public places remain inundated, resulting in mosquito-breeding. The authorities need to act fast because of the threat of dengue and chikungunya, he adds.

Irked by the neglect, the Communist Party of India organised a protest in front of the park a few days ago. Sethu Selvam, the party’s joint secretary, says residents have been complaining about poor facilities at the park. But the government has made no effort to maintain the park properly. “The poor lighting is also a matter of concern. Anti-social elements are misusing the park at night,” he adds.

The govt. has recently facilitated the transfer of the management of the park from the Forest Department to the Oulgaret Municipality. When contacted, Municipal Commissioner A. Suresh Raj said a plan had been worked out to renovate the park at a cost of around ₹28 lakh. Under it, the pathways would be repaired, and the park would be provided with solar lighting, play equipment, a drinking water supply system, seating, and a proper compound wall. The entrance would be improved, he said.

“We have approached private agencies to take up the renovation under their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes. If they do not respond positively, the municipality would tap into its own resources. The Rajiv Gandhi park, which was handed over to us in June, has been renovated at a cost of ₹13 lakh. We are also in the process of renovating the Victoria Nagar Park, Jaya Nagar Park. and Rainbow Nagar Park,” he added.