Redeveloped Parimal garden to be open to public today

“The redevelopment work of the park is a perfect example of public-private-partnership (PPP), taken up by the UN Mehta Foundation. Our work was to identify the areas that needed revamp, provide the land and approve the design. The plan was executed by Aniket Bhagwat, the landscape architect for the park,” said Patel.

The garden was conceived by the first mayor of Ahmedabad, Chinubhai Chimanlal, who wanted Ahmedabad to have “parks of distinction”. The park was first redeveloped by Kamal Mangaldas in 1970, a well-known Ahmedabad-based architect, says Bhagwat.

The park was built on a low-lying, water-logged land with a lake in the middle and several mango trees around that gives the area its name — Ambawadi. Until 90s, the park was maintained by the the AMC . In 1995, the Torrent Group took over the maintenance and development of the garden.

Last year, the UNM Foundation again took up the redevelopment, this time with Bhagwat, to include drinking water facilities, more toilets a double-storey gym, a yoga pavillion, meditation space, a herb garden, pet zone and open air theatre among others.

The UNM Foundation note says that the “iconic banyan tree” of the garden has been left untouched, while the brick chimneys and the bougainvillea arbour have been restored.

Ten such parks have been redeveloped by the UN Mehta Foundation in the city. “The design is done with durable material and are maintainable with a wide variety of native plants… In addition to this, the parks conserve water and recharge the aquifer…The waste from the parks is converted into biomass and reused,” a release said.

“There are other gardens in the city that will be taken for renovation, once their plans and budgets get approved in the next budget session in February 2023,” said Patel.