Parks of Hyderabad: The Picket Park

The Picket Park located near the Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad is one of the oldest parks maintained by the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) authorities. It is spread over in 3.5 acres with lush greenery dominated with majestic Royal Palm trees that are about 70 to 90 ft tall.

The major attractions are Tamarind trees, 100-year old Renuka Yellamma temple, Sri Hari Hari Nama Smarana Sangham and two old buildings from the Brit era in the middle of the Park. A few other old structures are said to be the residential quarters of garden keepers from those days, which are now in ruins.

The entry is free to all daily from 5 am to 7 pm. The morning hours are busy with walkers however, a few times the Park is used as a venue for conducting awareness campaigns and other activities for social causes; a prior permission from SCB is required for the same. The neighbourhood areas are Karkhana, West Maredpally, Clock Tower and Rashtrapati Road. The Metro Rail Project works are in full swing. TSRTC buses are available to all parts of the city. The Secunderabad Railway station is 2 km away and the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is 35 km away.

History
Picket (archaically, piquet) in military terminology is a soldier or small unit of soldiers placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance. It can also refer to any unit performing with war forces a similar function at a particular place or an area. Likewise Brit Forces in the Cantonment area used to picket at this place before Independence; hence this area is named as Picket.

Accordingly, the garden was also popularly known as Picket Garden. In those days, there was a lake which was also called Picket Lake, which has now vanished and in its place the present Jubilee Bus Station came up.

Problems
Local Park users complained of problems during heavy rains— the entire park is flooded with drain and storm water due to its low-lying area rendering it unfit for use. The park is becoming a sort of haven for vagabonds and for homeless people, who use using it recklessly and spoiling its gardens by littering.

There is no water in fountains, no drinking water facility; bio-toilets are developed but, not in use. There is an urgent need of the police beat daily to prevent unauthorised acts and deeds in the Park. In charge of the park in the SCB, A Mahender said that they are planning to extend the park area by taking over the open land of over 3 acres abutting the park, opposite to Sweekar Upkaar Complex and make it a model park in the SCB limits. Action plans are in progress to raise the level of landscape to avoid submerging during the rainy seasons.