Residents have volunteered to Restore a Neglected and pathetic Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Park at the Valley View Layout, Guru Nagara, near Mary Hill for many years
Mangaluru: One thing for sure, maintaining and taking care of a newly opened Park/Recreation area either by Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) or Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) is totally out question- and we have seen it right in front of our eyes, quite a few parks are in dilapidated condition, neglected, plants not watered or nurtured, lack of facilities, etc etc. And added to these defunct City parks, here we have yet another Park ignored by MCC which was developed at the Valley View Layout, Guru Nagara, near Mary Hill for many years.
Due to negligence and carelessness, with wild grass grown all over inside the park and the surroundings, reptiles including snakes crawling around, the local residents have come forward to chalk out a plan to maintain it. In fact, the city corporation had developed all the facilities in the park, including a children’s play area, benches, a walking track, and a drinking water facility. However, all infrastructure remains defunct due to lack of maintenance. Hence, local residents, led by organisations, have planned to develop the one-acre park, which was set up about eight years ago when Mr Mahabala Marla was the MCC Mayor.
While the present condition of the Park was getting from bad to worse, and as the park is in a dilapidated condition, local residents and organisations have decided to clean and maintain the public space without waiting for the city corporation. Members of the Prithvi Charitable Trust and Joggers Park have started a weekly shramdaan programme to clean the park on Sundays. Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Prithvi Charitable Trust president Ms Lolakshi Fernandes said that the residents took the decision to volunteer for the maintenance of the park after their repeated requests were not heard by the people’s representatives. “We have started cleaning the park with the help of residents. We will paint the stone benches and equipment in the children’s play area with the help of donors. Similarly, we have started planting saplings of trees that bear fruits and flowers in the park. Many residents joined hands and have been taking part in the weekly shramdaan,” she said.
“The city corporation had provided all facilities including slide, swings, walking track and other facilities. However, weeds have grown inside the park making it difficult for people to use the facilities,” added Ms Lolakshi. Senior environmentalist Krishnappa K, aged 80 plus from Bondel said, “It is sad to see that the park was totally neglected by MCC, which if maintained well would have benefitted locals for their daily walk, jogging and leisure time. I am determined to clean this park along with other volunteers in order to make this park usable”.
Nagesh Rao, a member of Joggers Park, said that the park was not maintained properly for many years. “We have initiated the work to clean the park to ensure that it will help the general public. We have requested residents in the locality to join hands,” he added. Apart from this project of cleaning the said park, the Trust also does numerous community service projects, like donating food to the needy, etc.
