Trichy: From being a city deficient in public parks two years ago, Trichy has achieved near-abundance with more than 25 of them coming up by now. But the question that lingers in the minds of residents is whether the expensive amenities will be maintained properly and the parks will retain their sheen?’ Trichy corporation seems to have found a way out by giving away the advertisement rights in the parks to private agencies for a minimal price on condition that they will take up their maintenance.On an average, a public park in the city requires Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh a year exclusively for maintenance which includes salaries of staff and electricity charges. While the civic body developed the amenities, the public has been insisting that the local body ensure their proper upkeep. As a promising model, Trichy corporation has signed a deal with a private agency giving away advertisement rights in it for a price. The agency, in turn, will allow the highest bidding client to advertise in the space earmarked. A portion of the revenue generated thus shall be utilized by the agency to maintain the park like growing plants, cleaning and paying wages. “The revenue generation model is intended to prevent the civic body’s funds being spent to maintain the park. Instead, the advertising agency will take up the maintenance and responsibility while we will supervise their adherence (to the deal),” an official with the civic body said.Royals Road park near Trichy Central bus stand has been chosen on a pilot basis for the project where billboards for a length of 60 metres have been erected adjacent to the main road. Officials said that more parks will be covered under the scheme depending on the outcome. The private advertisement agency will pay a sum of Rs 30,000 a year to the civic body which will be renewed periodically based on performance. Through the proposed model, the civic body will only be spending a meagre sum annually for maintenance as it gives them more of a supervisory role. “We will study the outcome after which we will implement the revenue generation model to maintain at least 25 public parks across Trichy,” Corporation commissioner N Ravichandran said.Graphic elements:Average sum spent by the civic body in maintaining parks a year:Medium sizeAnnual maintenance cost: Rs the 4-5 lakhs | Number of workers: 2Large sizeAnnual maintenance cost: Rs 10-15 lakh | Number of workers: 4-5Maintenance:Electricity charge: 25% | Garden maintenance: 20% | Repair works: 25% | Workers’ salary: 30%Parks identified for revenue generation modelRoyals road park | Thennur science park | South Ramalinga Nagar park | RS Puram park

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