Tirupati: Walkers oppose collection of user charges in parks

Tirupati: Members of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and a few locals staged a protest in front of Prakasam municipal park on bypass road demanding to drop collection of user charges from walkers. They said the collection of Rs 100 per month and Rs 1,000 per annum as user charge from the walkers was nothing but business and providing proper healthcare infrastructure and good atmosphere was the responsibility of civic body.

Over 1,500 people used to go to Prakasam Municipal Park for walking, a major recreation place on bypass road in the city. Recently, Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) has modernised the park with all amenities at a cost of Rs 15 crores.

Now, the civic body decided to collect money from walkers for the use of walking tracks on park.

In view of that, the Commissioner banned free entry into the park and fixed tickets for all the visitors as well as walkers too. Opposing the MCT move, the walkers strongly opposed the collection of user charges.

Similarly, many residents in dwelling areas are also opposing the collection of Rs 30 user charges from each household for waste management. Officials are saying that waste collection charges collected from residents as per solid waste management 2015 rules only.

R Ravi, a resident of Siva Jyothi Nagar, says "I used to walk in municipal park for the last many years. Now, officials have implemented a new rule that I have to pay Rs 100 per month for walking."

N Srija, a resident from Khadi Colony, expressed her anger on officials' decision and asked them to withdraw the move immediately.