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PMC plans to increase entry fees for public gardens
The proposal was given by the PMC’s garden department earlier this year in the month of January, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was put on hold
In a bid to curb down the unwanted crowding at gardens and parks in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now decided to increase the entry fee for public gardens across the city.
The proposal was given by the PMC’s garden department earlier this year in the month of January, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was put on hold. While unlock has begun in the state, gardens and parks will be the points where crowding will happen.
“There are 191 parks in Pune city which are under the PMC’s garden department and of them 21 parks require an entry fee. In some of the parks the entry fee is very nominal as 50 paise or Rs 1 and in other parks it is between Rs 5 to 10. So to increase the revenue of PMC we had given the proposal to hike these entry fees in the month of January. Later due to Covid-19, it was put on hold and now it will be taken up in the standing committee meeting. Once it gets the approval from the standing committee, the hike will be done,” said Ashok Ghorpade, PMC’s garden department superintendent.
In Pune there are a large number of citizens who go for a morning walk and also during the evening time for a walk to the gardens. There are senior citizens and laughter groups in these gardens which gather together daily. To avoid such type of gatherings in this crisis situation, increasing the entry fees will somewhat keep a tap on crowding at the gardens.
While there are mix reactions from citizens on this entry fee hike, Ramesh Damale, a regular morning walker said, “Due to Covid-19 pandemic, going to the park for a daily morning walk has stopped now, but earlier I used to go daily at 6am to walk in the garden nearby. I have seen many unwanted people creating nuisance and damaging the public property inside these gardens. So increasing the daily entry fee to the gardens is a good step, to reduce the number of people.”
Shantanu Shetty, a resident said, “It is not right to increase the entry fees in the garden, we are already paying tax to the PMC from which these gardens are being maintained. Now again hiking the entry fees in the Covid situation is not right, people come to the garden for walking, exercise and for mental peace. By making them pay a high entry fee daily will reduce the number of people coming to garden.”
