Ministry of urban development has issued standard operating procedures for parks as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission to ensure that they are clean, well maintained and have basic facilities. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority have been asked to rate all parks on various parameters, including the availability of infrastructure, maintenance, equipment and feedback from visitors. The Telegraph selects four major parks to find out how far they adhere to a few Swachh parameters.

Indira Gandhi Park

♦ Maintenance: This BDA maintained facility attracts regular footfall of 1000 people a day  
♦ Cleanliness: Piles of garbage, mainly plastic waste, visible at park
♦ Toilets: Unclean for most of the day. It has four toilets, two each for men and women. Two sanitation workers clean them once a day, in the morning
Quote: The civic body does not have a monitoring system in place. As a result, visitors litter the area. The park authorities should earmark places where dustbins are placed prominently. The toilet at the park is not maintained well, causing inconvenience to visitors, especially women. Manmohan Swain, 57, resident of Kharavela Nagar

Unit-II Children’s Park

♦ Maintenance: No periodic checks by BMC. Well-maintained children’s area and rides, but broken pathways
♦ Cleanliness: Cleaned regularly, but litter strewn in the surroundings of park. 
♦ Toilets: Not a single toilet at park
Quote: I take my seven-year-old to the park regularly. The park lacks proper infrastructure. Besides, litter strewn around the park has become a cause of concern because children are more susceptible to diseases than grown-ups. Although the park is cleaned regularly, it’s during the holidays, when lots of kids visit, that the park is not clean. The civic body should provide toilet facilities for children and ensure cleanliness. Simantini Mohanty, 42, homemaker

Unit-IX Public Park

♦ Maintenance: Irregular lifting of garbage. About 300 people visitors a day
♦ Cleanliness: Piles of garbage just outside the park. Park unclean inside as well
♦ Toilets: Two toilets, one each for men and women, are unclean most of the time. Cleaned once daily by two contractual workers in the morning
Quote: I visit the park regularly. However, the civic body seldom lifts garbage from in and around the park. The stench from the heaps of garbage has become intense over the past few days due to rain. The toilet in the park is not cleaned regularly. Samaresh Moharana, 27, chartered accountant and resident of Unit-IX

BDA-OMC Park

♦ Maintenance: Well-maintained by society welfare association
♦ Cleanliness: Clean inside, but sanitation workers do not lift garbage regularly from park’s periphery
♦ Toilets: Two toilets, one each for men and women, are unclean most of the time. Cleaned once a day by two contractual workers in the morning
Quote: The park is clean inside, but heaps of garbage are strewn in the surroundings. The stench emanating has become unbearable. The park’s toilet is used by the caretakers and is not maintained properly. Clean toilets are especially important for women visitors. Sanjeev Swain, 36, sales professional and resident of Saheed Nagar

TT suggests: Park authorities in the city should take a leaf out of the book of Biju Patnaik Park, which was developed by Nalco and is maintained by the municipal corporation. Spread over seven acres, the park has well-maintained lawns and other visitors’ areas. The toilets are clean. Garbage is lifted regularly. It is, however, yet another matter that the park is located in a posh area and frequented by ministers and VIPs leaving no scope for overlooking cleanliness.

Text by Sandeep Mishra and Sandeep Dwivedy, pictures by Ashwinee Pati