Hyderabad colony treasures green

Hyderabad: As houses come up cheek by jowl at colonies, and the mandated green space is encroached upon, Methodist Colony stands as an example of how to do things right with four parks.

The person who managed to get this done is Ms Gita Dendukuri. Met-hodist Colony, a 21-acre layout near Kundanbagh,  at Begumpet.

Ms Dendukuri, a former employee with the rural energy management dep-artment of the agricultural university, is a pioneer in adopting parks and zealously guards open spaces.

“Every colony  should have 20 per cent of open space and 10 per cent dedicated to parks in its layout,” she said. 

The colony has four themed parks named Neem, Rock, Brindavan (children play area) and Sports.

Ms Dendukuri told this newspaper that the Neem park came to be because of three old trees whose green canopy covered about 50 per cent of the area. “During the colony development, care was taken to retain the trees including neem, cassia, a temple tree and a soapnut tree.

“The agricultural well within Neem Park provides a beautiful backdrop for a Rudraram granite step gallery which has hosted may colony events including national days and celebrations. This heritage well serves as a water-harvesting structure which recharges the borewells of the surrounding residential apartments.”

Ms Dendukuri said that at Rock Park, timeless rock formations have been supplemented with granite seating and a cement gray walking trail. A Gulmohar tree and tall Namilnad trees stand in contrast amidst the rocks. There are several varieties of cacti and succulents. The park has riverbed pebbles procured from Nagarjunasagar.

The Brindavan Park too has a few natural rock formations, some tall eucalyptus trees and granite seating. Sports Park provides space to play badminton or cricket and has a walking trail and pogada trees bordering the wall. Ms Dendukuri has some advise to colonies that want to build and maintain a park: “First ask the GHMC to build walls to avoid encroachment. Next, place a nameplate making the GHMC its owner. Draw up strategies for the theme and seek financial help.”