Parks and (no) recreation: Govt grant not paid in months, several green spaces in Delhi clamour for upkeep

According to several Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs), a number of parks in the city are suffering for lack of upkeep due to shortage of funds. The shoddy condition of the parks is evident in the form of damaged trees, broken fencing around trees and shrubs, and dried leaves piled up in different corners.

The Delhi Parks and Gardens Society (DPGS), under the environment department, provides Rs 2.55 lakh per acre (in areas with no sewage treatment plant) and Rs 2.8 lakh per acre (for others) every few months for the maintenance of parks or gardens to registered RWAs or NGOs.

However, the release of the grants has been pending for months, according to the heads of several RWAs. This has affected not just the condition of the parks but also the salaries of gardeners and other workers.

Dilip, 38, a gardener at Saraswati Park, said he is yet to receive his wages for the past five months. “It is the first time that my salary has been pending for this long,” he said.

Karan Aggarwal, the RWA’s general secretary, said, “The RWA is facing a very big financial crunch… we are not able to pay the salary of the gardeners… Our claim for January to June 2023 grant has been pending since February, and because this is pending, we can’t apply for the second installment for July to December 2023 either.”

Aggarwal accused DPGS officials of citing fund shortages.

Manoj Kumar, Field Supervisor, DPGS, said, “We wrote to the finance department… We release the grant as per the funds we receive and since it occurs in a system-generated, serialised manner, some RWAs may face delays.”

A DPGS official, on condition of anonymity, admitted that of over 400 registered RWAs, more than half, around 250, have still not received the financial assistance. “This has been the situation since February. Funds were released to us for a few days in May end which we could pass on to a few RWAs,” the official added.

Green Park Extension has five parks, three of which are operated under a public-private partnership (PPP) model and the rest maintained by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Nakul Sharan, RWA president, said, “Money has not been paid under the PPP scheme for a long time. But the RWA is making regular payments to gardeners.”

In Jangpura, RWA president Dr Kapil Kakkar claimed among two dozen parks, only a few were maintained.

Dr Kirti Bhushan, RWA President, Keshav Puram, said, “We raised the matter to authorities but they said because of the (model) code of conduct, they could not release the funds…”