Modest, quiet opening for Rs 675-crore Maya’s dream park in Noida

After a two-year wait, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati’s dream park, the Rs 675-crore Dalit Prerna Shtal, will be thrown open to the public on Wednesday.

After a two-year wait, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati’s dream park, the Rs 675-crore Dalit Prerna Shtal, will be thrown open to the public on Wednesday.

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The Noida authority on Tuesday declared that the Akhilesh Yadav government had ordered the opening of the park for everyone.

Unlike October 2011, when Mayawati had organized a grand event to inaugurate the park, it will be opened without any fanfare this time.

After the glitzy inauguration, it was shut to finish the remaining work.

When the Samajwadi Party government came to power after dethroning the BSP, Yadav conducted a probe into the alleged irregularities in the park’s construction, and had suggested that it be turned into hospitals and banquet halls.

Though the probe is still on, the authority has decided to develop park as a tourist spot.

“A visitor will have to pay Rs 10 to gain entry into the park. The park’s timing is from 11 am to 6 pm, six days in a week. During winters, it will be open from 11 am to 5 pm. The park will be shut on Mondays,” said SC Mishra senior project engineer, the Noida authority.

“While drinking water facilities and toilets are functional, the rest will be ready by December end. Mobile toilets will be also kept for the large number of visitors expected on the opening day,” said Mishra.

The Noida authority had invested a whopping Rs 675 crore in building this park spread over 36 acres and located in Sector 93 on the Delhi-Noida border near the Kalindi Kunj Barrage.

They added that a food court and parking facility for 300 vehicles were under construction.

“The park has historical value as it has a museum with information on the Dalit movement, its various leaders and their work,” said an authority official, requesting anonymity.

“The decision to open this park is surprising because an inquiry into the construction irregularities is still on,” said RP Sharma a local social activist.

The construction of the park had come under attack from political parties and conservationists who had approached the Supreme Court alleging the destruction of green belt along the Okhla Bird sanctuary.

The court initially stayed construction but later lifted the stay.