Bihar public parks to get facelift with musical fountains, open gyms, play area

Community parks in Patna and some other major cities in Bihar are to soon get a facelift following the government entrusting department of forests, environment and climate change with their development.

Over 400 public parks including the 72 located in the state capital along with those in cities such as Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya will be covered under the renovation, which will see setting up of open gymnasiums and children's play areas apart from basic amenities like safe drinking water and washrooms.

Besides, some of the parks in the state capital will also get musical fountains with coloured lights and laser images.

"Public parks are like lifelines of cities and should have a variety of facilities and attractive looks. We are planning musical fountains at some of the state capital parks," Neeraj Kumar Singh, the forest minister said.

Earlier, all the public parks were maintained by the department of urban development and housing. However, considering their poor condition and the difficulties faced by the urban development department in their maintenance, the state government decided in 2014 to hand over some parks in Patna to the forest department. Altogether 44 public parks, including the Veer Kunwar Singh Azadi Park located near Patna Junction railway station, were handed over.

A forest official, who did not want to be quoted, said parks handed over to the forest department were groomed well and received a good number of local visitors while those under the urban development department remained in poor condition.

"The deputy chief minister, Tarkishore Prasad too, expressed concern over the situation and directed the forest department to develop parks for relaxation and rejuvenation.

"Following this the government decided to shift the development of public parks under the forest department. The decision was approved by the state Cabinet in the first week of February," he said and added that the urban development department is collecting data on all public parks in urban areas in the state, which will be handed over to the forest department.

"But, while the forest department will develop the parks and also handle their maintenance, funds will be provided by the urban development department. The budget of park development and maintenance will depend upon the area of the park and the facilities required there," said the officer.

Two varieties of musical fountains will be installed at the parks. While the general category fountain will be musical and have coloured lighting, others will also have laser images.

"The special category fountain is costlier, but we are planning to have it for people’s enjoyment. It will need a bigger space. The Azadi Park may prove to be suitable for this kind of facility," said the forest minister.