Hyderabad: Locals’ opposition forces agency to withdraw entry fee at KPHB park

Hyderabad: Residents of KPHB Colony Phase-5 have raised objections after the caretaker agency started charging an entry fee to the park.

As the local park was in bad shape, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) recently gave the maintenance work of the park to a private agency, Nava Nirman.

After receiving a contract, the agency introduced the entrance fee of Rs 11 per day and Rs. 220 for monthly pass for visitors. However, the agency’s move met with objections as locals protested the ticket system to access the neighbourhood park. They said the local park is a public property and it should be freely accessible to all.
As the locals continued to oppose the entry ticket, Kukatpally legislator Madhavaram Krishna Rao intervened in the matter and said the visitors need not pay the fee to access the park.

The residents are visiting the park without paying a fee. Subsequently, the agency also stopped collecting the fee, however, it has not removed the board with the entry fee details stuck at the gate.

“The local park is a public space built with public money. How can the agency put a fee on using it,” a local resident said.

Recently, the GHMC built a walking track and a place to play sports in this one-acre park in the area. Following the orders from GHMC commissioner K. Ilambarithi, the local park was given to a private agency through a tender process, according to a GHMC official.

He added that the idea was to ensure proper maintenance and security due to complaints about misuse of the space.