‘Smart’ Khammam has no space to develop public parks
KMC does not have considerable space in its possession to develop parks
By : a ravindra seshu
Update: 2014-11-24 08:23 GMT
Khammam: Khammam, that would soon get the smart city tag, has no sufficient space to develop public parks. There are seven parks in the city but none of them are located in a prime area. Moreover, all the parks, except two, are congested for which, people are not showing interest in entering the spaces. The extent of all the seven parks, put together, is below ten acres.
“The government is more interested in allocating open places to private persons and institutions than for public facilities. The Khammam Municipal Corporation does not have considerable space in its possession to develop parks,” said an official working in the corporation.
Over 10 acres near Lakaram tank bund was given to private persons who developed the place as a park and are charging Rs 1,000 from each walker. Walkers in the city are relying on the grounds of SR and BGNR Degree Colleges, Sardar Patel Stadium and Pavillion Grounds for their daily exercise.
P Padmanabha Rao, a walker, said, “In the mornings, all the three grounds witness a lot of rush with people from various places thronging them as there are no good parks giving enough lung space,” he added.
Significantly, there are about 1,000 acres of NSP lands in the heart of the city but no official had thought of allocating a part of it for a beautiful park. Recently, officials put forward a proposal to develop the NSP left canal bund, passing through the city, into a public park.
According to a study, the quality of life, health and environmental sustainability of people increases with the presence of parks. At present, the city has a population of 3 lakh. The corporation officials had decided to develop eight more parks in the city after the municipality was elevated as a corporation, by merging 10 adjoining villages into the town. “We are being shown only small pieces of land in the city for developing as parks,” an official said.