💬 Our Ameerpet park is falling apart

The park near our colony in Ameerpet has been in bad shape for about 3 months now. The grass is knee high in most corners and 2 benches are broken, just left lying there. The walking track has cracked patches, and I nearly twisted my ankle on one of them last week. I used to walk there every evening around 6, and this month I've gone exactly twice. A lot of older people from the nearby lanes used to gather there for their evening round. Now there's nowhere to sit, so they either stand around or head home after 10 minutes. One of the outdoor exercise machines has rusted and the handle on it is missing completely. My neighbour's little boy tried to swing on it and I pulled him off before he got hurt. The lights are the worst part. At least 3 lamp posts have stopped working altogether. After sunset half of the track is dark, and most of the regular walkers stopped coming after 7. Earlier this year the whole place was full of people till late and it felt safe enough. Now it's quiet and dark, and I wouldn't send my mother there alone in the evening. A few weeks ago I wrote a complaint to the corporator's office and attached 4 photos. I got a message saying it was received, and I haven't heard anything since then. Some of us in the colony are planning a small clean up on a weekend for the grass. Does anyone know who looks after parks, separate from roads and drains? I'd like to send it to the right desk.

Instead of only a resident cleanup, a few parks near us got help from a local NGO. They brought proper tools, and I heard some of them even find company funds for benches. I'm not sure how it works for every area, so don't take my word for it. It might be worth searching if any group like that works around Ameerpet, even just to ask.

ASZ is right about photographing that missing handle on its own, I would do the same. I'd also write down the date and the time you took the photo, so it's on record. A complaint about a child getting hurt reads very differently from one about tall grass. Nobody wants to be the person who ignored it after the letter was already sent.

The park near Kothapet gets cleaned every month and nobody there even has to ask for it. I walk there when I visit my sister and the benches are always painted and clean. Maybe find out which ward that park falls under and ask whether the same cleaning crew can come to Ameerpet too. Some areas get attention without a fight, and it can't hurt to ask why.

Qamar's idea of splitting the letters makes sense, I would never have thought of it. So I'll send 1 letter for the benches and machines, and a separate note about the lamp posts. A few of us will do the grass ourselves this coming weekend, whatever happens with the letters. If we turn up with bags and brooms, maybe the park will look cared for again.

That missing handle on the exercise machine bothers me, because kids always try those first. Where I grew up a rusted one just got removed quietly after a complaint, nothing was repaired. I'd take a clear photo of that one machine and send it on its own as a danger. A hurt child is a stronger reason to act than a general note about bad upkeep.

I had a similar park problem once and learned that benches and lights go to different desks. Someone at the office told me, so I wrote 2 separate letters instead of one long one. The bench letter got an answer in about 2 weeks, but the lights took much longer. Maybe try the same split, and name each item clearly with one photo each.

My grandmother used to walk there every single evening until the cracked track sections started bothering her knees, she has basically stopped going now and just walks inside the house instead which is obviously not the same.

The resident cleanup idea for the overgrowth makes sense as a starting point, at least the park becomes usable again for basic walking while waiting on official repairs for the bigger stuff. Did something similar for a smaller park near Dilsukhnagar with about ten of us on a weekend, took maybe three hours total and made a noticeable difference right away.

The broken lamp posts would worry me most out of everything on your list. A park with no light after sunset isn't safe for anyone walking alone. Our society once complained about something similar, and it only moved after we called it a safety problem. I'd send the lights as a separate letter from the benches and the grass, so nothing gets lost.