Parks: India
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Contents |
Judicial verdicts
HC allows residents to use park for mourning
Abhinav Garg, August 26, 2021: The Times of India
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva allowed the plea of residents of Greater Kailash-1 after the south corporation agreed to hold a prayer meet for the departed souls, but on the condition that the park won’t be damaged.
The court pointed out that the park in any case is being maintained by the local residents’ welfare society, which spends money for its upkeep even though the corporation is the land owning agency. The court recorded the stand of the SDMC counsel while adding that the same permission can’t be treated as a precedent and is being given in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.
In their plea filed through advocate Shivam Goel, the residents challenged a recent circular of SDMC banning the holding of mass public functions such as cultural and religious events, weddings and political rallies in city parks. The society, through its president Mahesh Kumar Gupta, urged the court to intervene, citing the lack of any alternative space for the function.
They pointed out that there is no community hall available which can host such a function and since the park is maintained by the local funds, the prayer meet should be allowed in it. SDMC then made its nod conditional on the residents not erecting any “pucca” structure in the park and Covid-related norms will be followed, an assurance that was readily given by the society.
Usage for functions
2021: SC stays NGT order on Ramlila, function in parks
August 4, 2021: The Times of India
Ramlila and social functions now may be held in parks as a National Green Tribunal’s order prohibiting such activities in municipal parks has been stayed by the apex court. Senior municipal functionaries say that only those parks which were earlier being rented out for holding functions will be opened for booking.
South Delhi Municipal Corporation allows social functions and gatherings at 58 of its parks, while the north corporation has 37 such parks. East Delhi Municipal Corporation accepts bookings for 20 parks.
Narendra Kumar Chawla, former south corporation mayor, said that the court had provided relief to the civic body and now marriages, social functions and religious functions could be held in the parks. “We will resume the booking process in a week. There are 58 parks and five open spaces in the jurisdiction of the south corporation that were being used for social functions for a long time, but a blanket ban was imposed by the NGT on such bookings in February by stating that it adversely affects the greenery,” Chawla said. A senior municipal official said that the south and north corporations had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the NGT order. “If the conditions remain under control and the third wave of novel coronavirus cases is not observed in the city, we will start accepting bookings for Ramlilas. However, it will depend on the prevailing orders of DDMA on gatherings,” the official added.
“Only some of the parks are used for holding social and religious functions. The limit of maximum days of booking in a month will remain 10 days as per the old arrangement.” North Delhi Municipal Corporation manages a total of 6,095 parks spread over 2,159 acres of area. The south corporation has 6,872 parks in its jurisdiction, while the east corporation has 2,097 parks. “This year, the next auspicious marriage period will be in November, when we will be expecting maximum applications for bookings. Ramlila organisers will be making the bookings in October,” the official said.
Being cheaper alternatives to banquet halls and marriage halls, many of these parks are much sought after. The south corporation has created three slabs for park booking rates. The daily cost for booking a park site, which is less than 0.5 acres, is Rs 4,000 per day; the rate for 0.5 acre-one acre park site is Rs 8,000 per day and the parks bigger than one acre can be booked for Rs 25,000 per day.
