A park maintained by residents!

CHENNAI: It is not often that one gets to see residents take active part in the management and general maintenance of their locality. The residents of Krishnapuram in Ambattur Municipality are among the few who constantly take an active interest in what goes on in their area.An island of green in the middle of many buildings, Krishnapuram Park is the local attraction in Ambattur. With swings, jungle gyms, a badminton court, walkers’ path, lush green trees and flowering plants, the park is open to residents for use from 5am to 9am and from 5pm to 9pm every day.One interesting aspect about this park is that it is entirely maintained by the Krishnapuram Residents Association.More than 200 people utilise the park for leisure and fitness activities every day.Asking for a minimum membership fee of Rs 5 per month from the 1,000 households in the area, the association employs two workers to maintain the park. They also conduct monthly talent shows for the children, a sort of open mike night every Pournami. General Secretary K Ganapathy says, “We want to maintain the park for the benefit of the residents. We cannot travel to Chennai every time we want to have some relaxation.”In the annual general body meeting of the Krishnapuram Residents Association held on Saturday, residents brought up major unresolved issues, which required the involvement of authorities. With Ambattur being made a part of the Greater Chennai Corporation, those present called for more steps to be taken to improve the situation in this densely populated residential area.The area has a solid waste management issue that has continued to plague the residents for years. As the responsibility has for so long been split between the municipality and the private firm Neel Metal Fanalca, each keeps shifting the blame onto the other. Ganapathy said, “They say there is no place to segregate the waste and dump it.” Despite this claim, the roads in Krishnapuram remain clean and tidy, due to the residents’ efforts in maintaining their surroundings.Asked if residents could practise source segregation to make the municipal workers job easier, he said, “Even if the residents take this initiative, the garbage is all thrown into the same vehicle by those collecting it.” The association has been continuously writing to the local authorities, but does not wait for them to take action, as everything is done by them.Unauthorised parking of vehicles by those visiting the restaurants and shopping complexes on the main road is another problem that the residents find irksome. They alleged that many cars and bikes were parked on the residential roads, sometimes indiscriminately in front of the gate.Those using the Ambattur Railway Station coming from the Venkatapuram side are forced to walk across Varadarajapuram to buy tickets. “This is time consuming, and a computerised reservation centre on the Venkatapuram side will surely help the residents,” said Ganapathy.Issues of accessing the area by public transport, road widening, level crossing and traffic woes were also discussed. The election of office bearers for the year 2011-2014 were also held at the meeting.Apart from these activities, the 20-year-old association also conducts night patrolling. With two Gurkhas and a dedicated team of 25 Friends of Police, the initiative has been successful. “Most of us in the FoP are old men,” said Ganapathy, ruing the fact that the younger generation does not take an active interest in this activity, although they contribute monetarily.The association plans to present their annual report to the candidates contesting in their ward in the local body elections, and ask them to suggest actions they would take in order to improve the facilities in the area.