Residents to look after colony parks

Admitting that the public-private partnership model for development and maintenance of colony parks has not been a success, the MCD plans to introduce a revised partnership scheme involving RWAs and NGOs.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is turning over a new leaf for the sake of greenery in the Capital.

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Admitting that the public-private partnership model for development and maintenance of colony parks has not been a success, the MCD plans to introduce a revised partnership scheme involving resident welfare associations (RWAs) and NGOs.

The drawback of the earlier plan was that there was no provision to pay an advance to the RWAs. The civic body was supposed to give Rs 60,000 per acre per year for the work and RWAs feared they might not be paid later.

Moreover, the RWAs were supposed to manage water provided by tube-wells and electricity bills on their own over and above the funds provided.

There are 14,500 parks in Delhi.

Under the scheme, advance funds will be released for first three months after signing the agreement and another instalment for the next three months will be released in the fourth month after getting the utilisation certificate for all works.

“After five months from signing of the agreement, parks will be inspected and a detailed report will be submitted to the MCD commissioner. If work is found to be satisfactory,

more money be released,” said an official.