Vijayawada: The thought of a retired naval officer doing something for his birthplace Vijayawada made him work relentlessly for 23 years to turn a mini-sized jungle into an eye-catching landscape. Ankenm Muralikrishna, 67, from the city transformed a canal bund downstream of Prakasam Barrage into a nature park and named it Navy Park as a mark of respect towards the Navy.
Muralikrishna, after lots of deliberations with the civic body in 1999, was given 13 cents of land in front of the VMC to start his project. Working hard and spending Rs 20 lakh from his pocket, Murali has created his masterpiece named Navy Park because of his gratitude towards the Indian Navy. He also carved the map of India right in the centre of the park to express his respect towards the nation.
The park, situated in the heart of the city near the Durga temple, attracted many tourists and the city dwellers loved to spend their evenings in the park where 50 varieties of butterflies and birds, including Kingfisher, used to visit every year. A walking track was also laid for the walkers. Murali, who has made it his life’s mission to beautify the bund, is now struggling hard for the survival of the park. Recently, 70 per cent of the Navy Park was demolished by the civic authorities,as part of city road widening works for Krishna Pushkaralu.
Muralikrishna, after getting a stay order from the court against the demolition, says that a 23-year-old park was demolished for a 12-day fete, which is a horrible act of the civic authorities. Big trees and plants having medicinal value were destroyed, including the nests of the birds. “The state government is running after Singapore, China and Japan for the beautification of the state, but is destroying the existing beautiful structures and parks established by the local people. I demand the government to reconstruct the park,” said Muralikrishna.
“The park is purely meant for the Muralikrishna’s own use and outsiders were not allowed into the park and even the staff of the VMC. There is a house built inside the park which doesn’t have drainage facility. All the sewerage from the house was led to the adjoining road causing sanitation problem and was demolished,” alleged VMC PRO Maruthi.
