Berhampur: Even as Silk City Berhampur lagged far behind in the race for smart cities, an urban renewal and retrofitting programme by Government of India— an urban smart park project in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) area— has also failed, a report said.
According to sources, after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made an announcement about the project at the city’s stadium ground in April this year while addressing a huge gathering of local people, the details of it were chalked out by state government at subsequent stages.
The CM had then announced for 114 such smart parks, which were proposed to be located at various urban areas across the state, at an expenditure of Rs 200 crores and to be completed within six months.
Away from the din and bustle of city life, a smart park would provide entertainment, good health and peace of mind, CM had said. It was a part of the urban development programme of the state government.
It was proposed that the smart parks would have pavements to walk, open gymnasiums, arrangements for yoga and meditation, several playing equipment for children, drinking water facility, separate toilets for men and women, sitting arrangements and even light-emitting diode (LED) electrification works on the park premises.
Worthy to note, Ganjam district has 16 Notified Area Councils (NACs), Hinjili Municipality and the BeMC civic body. However, the smart park projects are known to have not yet started at any of the civic areas here.
The Chief Minister had inaugurated one such project at Berhampur. Although the civic authorities have already constructed Gandhi and Nehru parks within the BeMC limits several years before, the proposed smart park project has suffered administrative apathy.
Notably, local people throng the Biju Patnaik Park at corporation road in the wee hours, which was developed by Berhampur Development Authority (BeDA). Despite paying user fees, the residents here do not hesitate to spend good times there every day.
In the meanwhile, BeMC authorities have setup an Indira Priyadarshini park near a Muslim neighbourhood and several other mini-parks at Ganesh Nagar, Baikuntha Nagar, Industrial Estate, Krishna Bihar, Nilakantha Nagar and Patitapaban Nagar areas of Berhampur city.
On the other hand, many parks have got dilapidated due to lack of adequate maintenance by the local authorities. In such a situation, the announcement of CM for a smart park has eluded beyond hopes.
The identification of land for this proposed smart park project in Berhampur city has not been done so far, BeMC sources informed.
PNN