Parks await ribbon-cutting by VIPs in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Till the time it finds a VIP to inaugurate them, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) will keep the Rose Garden in Sanjeevaiah Park and the nearby Spice Garden out of reach of common folk.

It has been more than eight months since HMDA finished these two gardens. However, neither the HMDA commissioner nor any other VIP have found time to inaugurate them.

HMDA officials say that they had asked Chief Minister K. Chandr-ashekar Rao to inaugurate the park but he could not accommodate it in his busy schedule.

An HMDA official said, “The commissioner is trying. Even she can inaugurate the park if she wants to. The two parks might be inaugurated by October.”

A worker at Sanjeevaiah Park said, “Many times people who visit the park feel disheartened for not being able to see the Rose Garden.”

A visitor to the park said, “We visited the park many times and even brought our relatives from other cities to show them the Rose Garden, only to be disappointed to know that it has not been inaugurated yet.”

The Rose and Spice gardens require about Rs 1.3 lakh per month for maintenance, of which about Rs 80,000 is for the Rose Garden.

The HMDA plans to charge separately for entrance to the Rose Garden, which will help generate revenue for maintenance.

With the inauguration being delayed, the 5.5-acre Rose Garden, with 600 varieties of roses, is unable to generate any income.

Meanwhile most of the playground equipment has rusted and rendered useless for the hundreds of children who visit the park every evening.

The beautiful rock garden at Sanjeevaiah Park has also been shut for months “for maintenance”.

The Eco Park at Kothwalguda, spread over 68 acre, is also being developed at a sluggish pace, thanks to lack of funds from the government.

Development works for the park started last year, however, till now just about 10-20 per cent work has been done.