If you’re looking for a park in the heart of the city where you can walk, walk some more, and then perhaps rest on a bench, Mayor Sundar Rao Park in Egmore might fit the bill.
Nestled between the Cooum River and Rukmani Lakshmipathi Road, the park is a long, narrow stretch that doesn’t seem like a park at first glance. However, enter it, and old, drooping green trees sag comfortably over benches, a large, raised stone circle offers a cool spot for naps, and the sounds of traffic from outside, dip.
Walkers at Mayor Sundar Rao Park in Egmore
| Photo Credit:
R. Ragu
Facilities-wise, the park does not boast of much — there is no children’s area, no exercise equipment, no waterbody or fountain. The park only has an approximately 400-metre-long walking track, assiduously used by a number of local residents.
M. Abbas, a regular user for the past three years, says the park offers a cool respite from the heat outdoors and serves as a convenient spot for a quick walk. One thing that walkers would like to see, he says, is drinking water facilities and better maintenance of the toilets.
Some more greenery too, would not go amiss. Though there are plants and shrubbery on both sides of the walking path, some spots in between it remain bare.
Lack of cleanliness
Overall, the park is well maintained, though the lack of an afternoon clean leads to some garbage piling up, says 19-year-old Yogith Kumar, also a daily walker. “The park is cleaned in the mornings, and the plants are watered, but people come in here in the afternoons and eat and snack and there is spillage and trash that remains on the walking path because there is no second round of cleaning,” he points out.
Earlier, says Raja P.P.S., a 74-year-old who has been coming to the park for 10 years, the food waste used to attract rats and snakes, and though this has considerably declined, it still remains an issue. Ideally, he says, there should be more civic responsibility amongst residents; food waste and garbage should not be thrown in the first place, and everyone should be involved in keeping the greenspaces of the city clean.
