The lacklustre Rajaji Park here, which was gradually losing sheen for the past several years due to poor maintenance, has been given a new lease of life on an outlay of ₹ 1.77 crore under the Smart City programme.
Though the park with age-old trees attracts a decent crowd in the morning and the evening, no maintenance was taken up in the past in a big way. Consequently, the park was virtually neglected gradually.
When the corporation decided to renew it under the Smart City programme, ₹ 1.77 crore was allocated. With this allocation, the corporation has renewed the park with fish tank, walkers’ path for about 180 metres, yoga shed, fountain, colourful seats, play equipment for children and gym. As the existing ground-level sump has given way for the fish tank, a range of colourful fishes are to be released here.
Since the renewed park is to be opened by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday as he is scheduled to visit the port town, beautification work has moved to top gear.
“The Chief Minister is likely to visit the Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital to inaugurate new facilities in the Departments of Cardiology and Oncology. Since the Rajaji Park shares boundary with the Medical College Hospital, we expect that the Chief Minister may spend a few minutes in renewed Rajaji Park,” said a senior official attached to the corporation.
