City parks turn pricey

Till recently, parks in Hyderabad were a retreat from the urban madness, a place to take a leisurely stroll and catch a breath of fresh air. But now, exorbitant entry fees and parking charges have rendered these public spaces beyond the reach of average middle-income families.

Gayatri S.K., who recently visited Sanjeeviah Park with her two children was stunned at the steep parking charges, “The car parking charge is Rs 20 for 20 minutes! When I questioned the official in-charge, Ishwar, he rudely asked me to either pay up or get lost. He added that I should go to the HUDA if I had doubts.”

Shekhar Ghosh, a resident of Kondapur says, “Most parks in the city are beyond the reach of the less affluent. Popular parks like the NTR Garden and the Botanical Garden charge as much as Rs 20 as entrance fee while there are others that charge even more.”

However, Venkateshwarlu, administrative officer of Delara Tourism Corporation Ltd., which is in charge of Botanical Gardens defends his organisation saying, “Our entry tickets are priced at Rs 15. We charged Rs 20 only during the Karthik Masam and that too if outside food was brought in.”
M. Vedakumar, president, Forum for Better Hyderabad, says, “The definition of parks have been changed by corporations. They are now high-end gardens, which are inaccessible to citizens.” He adds, “The maintenance should be funded by the government. Why should people pay to enter public spaces?”

A similar situation in Bengaluru was dealt with severely by citizens who came together to protest the levying of entry fees for Cubbon Park. However, with the jurisdiction of parks scattered across the GHMC, HMDA and Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation, there is no centralised authority in charge of
manning the welfare of these public spaces in Hyderabad.

Krishna Murthy, director of Urban Forestry, GHMC, is clear on the fact that all the parks within his purview are easy on the pocket. He says, “Parks like KK Park, J. Vengala Rao Park, the ones at Imlibund, Indira Park and Chacha Nehru Park are all reasonably priced. For the rest of the parks in the city, the HMDA is answerable.”

HMDA estate management officer, Jaganath Rao, claims, “All our parks, including the ones at Tarun nagar and Kukatpally, are priced at a meagre Rs 3 and we levy a parking charge of Rs 5 to Rs 10, nothing more,” he says, adding, “Others are under the AP Forest Development Corporation and have to be dealt separately.”