Bhubaneswar, Sept. 4: The capital now has two new parks — one near Unit-I and the other at Unit-VIII, both developed by Bhubaneswar Development Authority.

The Unit-I park, named Gyan Patnaik Park, was in a bad shape and was virtually used as a parking lot by vegetable vendors who brought their products there to sell to wholesale dealers and retailers. Once the vegetable vendors began demanding that the area be made part of the market, the general administration department, the owner of the land, decided to develop it into a park.

The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) took up the construction a year ago after the general administration department handed the land over to it. The park, which has a lawn, rides for kids, lighting system and toilets, cost Rs 40 lakh to build.

The Unit-VIII park, which was earlier maintained by the general administration department, was badly damaged by the 1999 super-cyclone. It had been wallowing in neglect since then.

“We took up the case in 2010 and sought the general administration department’s permission to get the land so that the park could be developed,” said BDA chief horticulturist Ashok N. Dhar.

The BDA invested Rs 93.25 lakh in this park and it now has a walking track, children’s play area, sitting arrangements, rain shelters, parking area and toilets. The entrance has also been renovated and the old quarters of the park’s caretaker have also got a makeover.

“The park at Unit-VIII is a composite one in nature, which has all kinds of facilities. Besides landscaping and children’s play area, it has proper lighting so that it can be utilised both during the day and at night,” Dhar said.

The new park with children’s play area will be the 10th such park under the BDA.

Dedicating the two parks to the city yesterday, housing and urban development minister Raghunath Mohanty also inaugurated two roads near Kalinga Vihar on the city outskirts. The two roads were also constructed by the BDA. The development authority celebrated its 30th foundation day on Sunday.

While a four-lane 200-metre road connecting Sum Hospital and Sampur was constructed with an investment of Rs 4 crore, another road connecting sectors 7 and 8 of Kalinga Vihar to NH-5 was constructed with a cost of Rs 7.6 crore, said an engineer of the BDA.