Patna, Nov. 20: There’s green news for hundreds of residents of Nooranibagh Colony in Alamganj area who have been living in almost barren conditions and fear of criminals, thanks to the poorly kept parks in the area.

The Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCo) will soon develop the park in Phase 2 of the colony, which has over 100 families.

The park, as of now, is underdeveloped, lacks green cover and is avoided by the residents who believe it to be a den of the hooligans of the locality. It is more of a dust bowl for the residents who keep their windows closed to avoid the stench and dirt from getting inside their houses.

Now, the residents can breathe easy. BUIDCo is planning a jogging track, children’s park, lighting and seating arrangements in the park. Once developed, the green patch would also have a rock garden and a fountain among other facilities.

The park in Nooranibagh Colony, Phase 2, is spread over an area of 2400sqm.

“The development of Phase 2 of Nooranibagh will start soon. The corporation has selected Archana Constructions for the project. It would develop the park at an estimated cost of Rs 72 lakh. Moreover, a six-month-deadline has been fixed for the completion of the project,” said a senior official of BUIDCo.

The developed park would have sufficient greenery with variety of flora like bottle palm plants, shrubs, ornamental plants and bamboo, among others. Sufficient landscaping would also be done to compliment the greenery.

The plan of the park has been developed keeping in mind visitors of all age groups. Children would get ample amusement facilities, including merry-go-round, sky rocker scrambler, multi-seater see-saw, balancing beam and delux slide.

Besides children’s playground and slides, the corporation has also made provisions to erect hut-shaped structures to provide a dedicated space for senior citizens where they can assemble spend time in comfort.

The residents of the area heaved a sigh of relief after hearing the news of the park development plan.

“It has been nearly a year since the two parks in the two phases of Nooranibagh Colony are lying incomplete. Consequently, at times, criminals are seen wandering here. The place is now seen as nothing but a deserted under-construction site. I was about to approach authorities at higher level to look into the matter. However, now I am glad that they have decided to start the development work in the coming days,” said Kapoor Yadav, the councillor of ward number-53.

Residents, too, echoed the claim of their representative.

“There was a need of a park in our area since there are no green patches on the Ashok Rajpath stretch between Gandhi Maidan and Gai Ghat,” said Amit Mehta, resident of Nooranibagh Colony.

He added: “Moreover, if the authorities would plant good number of trees and provide playing area for children then our elders and children would not need to wander on the streets.”