The focus of work at Nageswara Rao Park continues to be in laying the path for walking. And there is much to be done.
Though over a dozen workers are employed to undertake this particular job, it is taking time.
What stands out as a sore thumb is the bad design of the pathway which at some points circles the base of a tree or narrows to some 3 feet or so,
Planting of grass and plants is being carried out in slow measure. But there is no evidence that the whole park will be ‘green’, the way it used to be.
The metal dome structure will remain as a skeleton without any canopy covering the area.This is a horrible idea at a huge cost of nearly 50 lakhs. What was actually required was some sprucing up of the area and relaying the walking path.This could have been done at a modest budget The entire park is expected to be flooded during the coming monsoon and there is no proper facility to drain the stagnant water.
It is an atrocity to destroy a green paradise in the name of redevelopment and with improper alignment of stormwater drain uprooting about 40 mature trees and 100s of shrubs. These projects are like converting sustainable model to unsustainable model with more concrete and Korean grass patches which are water intensive species with high maintenance and labour dependent. Wonder how GCC gets such horrible idea that benefits just the contractors at the cost of the environment and discomforting the local residents who are the stakeholders ignoring their priority
The walkway is not the only problem. There is an open piece of land in the western end on Luz Church Road that has stagnant water in it. The walkway goes alongside this. There is a foul smell and mosquitoes breeding. This has to be addressed as well.
What was once perhaps 80% greenery is now, sadly, dominated by concrete, walkways and flattened lawns. Lawns everywhere do not constitute greenery. A park needs trees, shrubs, foliage, biodiversity and permeable earth.
It remains to be seen how much of the original shrubbery and layered vegetation will actually be restored. Whatever is done now, the park will never quite be what it was.
I only hope the Government and GCC recognise that nature does not always need to be redesigned or modernised. Sometimes, the best intervention is to simply leave it alone and care for it.