Rs.52-lakh plan for Coimbatore park

The city’s only major recreation centre – the V.O.C. Park – may have quite a number of improvements made to it in the next few months.One of the major measures is to make the toy train safe for use, Coimbatore Corporation’ South Zone Chairman P. Pynthamil said after an inspection of the park on Wednesday along with officials of the civic body.Attributing the condition of the park to poor maintenance, Mr. Pari said he had provided Rs.1.5 lakh from the zone’s funds to carry out repairs to all the three coaches of the train.

“But, we are not happy with the work. A crack was noticed on the rails on Tuesday evening and that was why we carried out an inspection on Wednesday,” he said.“The curve of the track is dangerous at 15 degrees. As per the norms of the railways, it should be 45 degrees,” Mr. Pari said. The toy train goes around a 70 cent space, out of the three to four-acre park.The park was created 20 years ago with the train and rails sponsored by a Lions Club. The maintenance was done by the Corporation. “But, the people who got the contract for maintenance had not done it properly,” he said.

After the inspection on Wednesday, it was decided to carry out improvements to the toy train and also other facilities in the park at Rs. 42 lakh.Then, Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy, representing the Coimbatore East Assembly Constituency, sanctioned Rs.10 lakh from the MLA’s Constituency Development Fund.Mr. Pari said the Minister sanctioned the amount by observing that this was the only recreation centre in the city for children.He wanted shelters put up for them and characters from animation films be painted on the train’s compartments.“We aim to complete the works in four months from now,” Mr. Pari said.

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