
GCDA to provide Rs 1 crore each to nine municipalities to develop open spaces
KOCHI: Recognising the importance of public open spaces in the development of the city, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has decided to provide financial assistance of H1 crore each to nine municipalities in Ernakulam district to develop and maintain them.
In the first phase of the project, funds will be allocated to Aluva, Angamaly, Thrikkakara, Kalamassery, Tripunithura, Maradu, Eloor, North Paravoor and Perumbavoor municipalities. Through the project, GCDA aims to develop public spaces and parks with facilities for the public, including children, to spend time and hold public gatherings.
'The intention is to set up open spaces like Ernakulam Subhash Park and Edappally Changampuzha Park, in each municipality that has facilities and where public events can be held.
Open spaces and public gathering places are essential elements of the urban environment, improving the quality of life, promoting social interaction, and contributing to sustainable economic and environmental development,' said K Chandran Pillai, the GCDA chairman.
The chairpersons of the municipalities appreciated the move to allocate funds to the civic bodies. The meeting assessed that the decision to provide budget allocation to municipalities is a first in history.

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