After three years under lock and key due to a dispute with the contractor, Ongole’s Gandhi Park has finally been thrown open to the public by the Ongole Municipal Corporation.
It now has a kids play area, some fun rides and a walking track on the shore of the picturesque Rangarayudu Cheruvu. Entry to the park is free of cost. The civic body is planning to add more hi-tech amusement rides and a food court in about a month’s time. A boat house is also on the cards.
“We will make Gandhi Park a complete entertainment zone for the people of Ongole,” Municipal Commissioner S. Venkatakrishna told The Hindu .
The new facilities will be established on a public-private parntership basis. Tenders have been floated for creating the two facilities on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis, he said. The private contractors will decide the rates to be charged for the pleasure rides and boating as per their cost recovery.
The boat house was first mooted by TDP leader Karnam Barama Krishnamurthy when he represented Ongole in the Lok Sabha during 1999-2004. But the proposal was put in cold storage by the then Congress government. “We are determined to revive the boat house at any cost,” said Ongole MLA and TDP district unit president Damacharla Janardhana Rao.
We will make Gandhi Park a complete entertainment zone for people of the city
S. Venkatakrishna
Municipal Commissioner
