No funds for upkeep of parks in Faridabad outsourced to RWAs

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, March 16

Public parks that were outsourced to the residents’ welfare associations (RWA) are in poor shape due to lack of funds.

The Municipal Corporation (MC), Faridabad, has handed over 490 out of the 750 public parks in the city to the RWAs of the respective areas. The MC is required to pay maintenance funds in the range Rs 2-3 per square metre to the RWAs. Even a budget of nearly two crores was earmarked by the civic body for the purpose.

Even 12 months after the allocation, the funds are yet to be release, Ranvir Singh, member of the Sector 9 RWA, said. “The local RWA is responsible for the upkeep of seven parks. The association buys plant saplings, and pays the wages of malis (gardeners) and other staff from its own sources. The issue of fund shortage has been raised on numerous occasions with the authorities concerned, but to no avail,” Singh added.

A local resident, Ajay Bahl, said it irritating that the MC had failed to pay a nominal maintenance charge even when most of the work was being done by the residents. “We pay property and other taxes to the MC. It is the duty of the civic body to ensure enough funds for the upkeep of the civic infrastructure,” he said. Another resident Vishnu Goel said the timely release of the funds had laid to the failure of the outsourcing policy.

The authorities concerned had also failed to provide funds for the major parks, Varun Sheokand, a social activist, said. “The Town Park in Sector 12 is one of the largest and most visited public places in the city. It was hand over to a leading industrial association by the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran few years back. But the association failed to get funds from the agency and gave up the work.”