Maintenance of parks in the city is set to improve with the Greater Chennai Corporation planning to follow stringent norms pertaining to performance of contractors.
Chennai Corporation officials said the contractors would be paid based on the score on 10 key aspects of park maintenance, including pruning of trees, cleaning of footpath, mowing of lawn and composting, cleaning of toilets, keeping play area for children clean and safe, harvesting rainwater, taking care of fountain, benches and lighting. If the residents complained about poor maintenance of parks with evidence of the damaged infrastructure, the corporation would reduce the amount paid to contractors.
A meeting of contractors will be held this week to discuss various aspects of park maintenance.
Outsourcing work
Currently, the Chennai Corporation has outsourced maintenance of 554 parks.
The new contractors to be identified in a few months are expected to be paid based on the key performance indicators. “The new performance-based system of outsourcing will be implemented in two months,” an official said.
In addition to outsourcing of park maintenance, the Corporation has also permitted corporates and NGOs to adopt parks. The corporate entities will be permitted to use the park for advertisement. So far, 65 parks have been handed over for adoption. After the relaxation of the lockdown, there has been a revival of interest among corporates to adopt parks in Chennai.
“At least 100 parks will be adopted shortly,”said an official. Chennai Corporation is expected to save at least ₹50 crore in the event of private entities adopting all the 702 parks in the city. The civic body is also planning to develop new parks in more areas. For instance, a new park for children will be developed in 4.5 acres of land near Mint Flyover. “The plan will be finalised in one week,” an official said.
