New Delhi: After a gap of nearly four years, Municipal Corporation of Delhi is set to revive and unify its public private partnership scheme for the maintenance of parks through resident welfare associations and voluntary organisations.Under the policy, RWAs and registered voluntary bodies will be allowed to adopt neighbourhood parks for their upkeep. A proposal is likely to be placed before the standing committee on Monday.
Under the new framework, assistance of Rs 13,500 per acre will be provided to the RWAs, along with additional support such as compost from green waste management centres. Regular monitoring will be done by MCD staff.Earlier, the erstwhile south, north and east corporations had different payment structures — Rs 13,500 per acre in south Delhi, Rs 8,000 in north and Rs 8,500 in the east.The scheme was halted in 2022 because of financial constraints as the corporation failed to clear payments to RWAs for the park upkeep. Outstanding dues mounted to nearly Rs 16 crore, of which Rs 9-10 crore was pending in 3 zones — Rohini, Keshavpuram and Narela — since 2019.“Most of the pending amount is now released or approved by the finance department. We are getting undertakings from RWA office-bearers confirming receipt of dues and their willingness to continue under the revived scheme,” an official said.Previously, around 222 RWAs had adopted 1,315 parks, which was launched over a decade ago to promote community participation and improve maintenance standards. However, delays in payments left many RWAs uncertain about continuing with the arrangement.Residents repeatedly raised concerns about the non-payment and deteriorating park conditions due to inadequate staffing and irregular maintenance by MCD.Officials said the corporation is also working on a separate proposal to hand over larger parks — those above three acres — to private concessionaires for upkeep. The move comes amid persistent staff shortages and resource constraints.
