Hyderabad: The GHMC and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority are fighting over income-generating parks.
The HMDA had asked GHMC to maintain around 39 parks of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority.
The municipal corporation, however, wanted the HMDA to also hand over NTR Gardens, Lumbini Park and Sanjeevaiah Park in December 2014 and again in January 2015.
The HMDA refused to do so, saying that these are income-earning parks. During weekends, NTR Gardens, the biggest park in the city spread over 32 acre, receives 12,000 visitors, while Lumbini Park gets 8,000. On weekdays, HMDA earns up to Rs 3 lakh from each park.
The proposal of the GHMC to control all parks was sent to the government after the two corporations could not come to an understanding.
A top official of the HMDA’s Buddha Purnima wing said, “The annual budget allocated for maintenance of all parks is around Rs 2-3 crore. Because of lack of funds, the HMDA is unable to maintain 39 parks. Only 16 of them are well maintained.”
He said the HMDA had written to the GHMC to take over certain parks in Greater Hyderabad for maintenance. However, they refused and asked HMDA to hand over the top three revenue-generating parks as well, which the HDMA refused. The decision is pending with the state government, he said.
The maintenance includes lights, house keeping, paying salaries of guards, re-laying flowerbeds, and looking after flowerpots and pathways.
NTR Gardens has a separate party zone, which is rented out. The HMDA has handed this over to a private party and collects rent every month.
The rent per month is between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3 lakh, which is an additional earning for HMDA apart from the income through entry tickets.
An official from GHMC urban biodiversity wing said the civic body plans to develop parks on a major scale when it is handed over to them.
