Poor patronage for renovated park boating at Gangineni tank

​​Chittoor: The revamped children’s park and boating facility at Gangineni Tank is not receiving expected patronage from city residents due to negligence in developing greenery in park and water pollution in tank.

Chittoor MLA D K Satyaprabha had inaugurated children’s park and two boats at Gangineni Tank two weeks ago. City dwellers had felt happy after park and tank was restored but their happiness did not last long as the number of residents visiting the tank drastically fell.

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism department and Chittoor Municipal Corporation (CMC) have developed children’s park and boating facility at the tank.

The Tourism department arranged two boats and set up amenities including boating spot at the tank with a cost of Rs 30 lakh. The CMC spent Rs 10 lakh for restoring children’s park.

However, residents complained that boating is expensive in the tank as each person has to pay Rs 50 for 20-minute ride. The water in the tank has polluted due to inflow of drain water.

Thus, foul smell emanating from water. Moreover, water levels have come down drastically because of leakages in tank. The Tourism department reportedly stopped boating in tank with visitors showing less interest.

Speaking to The Hans India, an official in-charge of boating and children’s park admitted that the water levels in the tank have fell in the last three days.

The situation might get worsened in the ensuing summer, he added. He appealed to municipal officials to stop the inflow of drain water into the tank. The civic authorities reportedly did not show much interest in raising greenery even after two weeks of inauguration.