Here is good news to families in the district centre and surrounding parts who are forced to visit Karimnagar, Warangal and Hyderabad for recreation on weekends.

Mancherial: Here is good news to families in the district centre and surrounding parts who are forced to visit Karimnagar, Warangal and Hyderabad for recreation on weekends. Gandhari Vanam, an urban forest park on the outskirts of Bokkalagutta village in Mandamarri on National Highway 363, will soon be developed on the lines of Shilparamam in Hyderabad.

Established on a sprawling 137 hectares in 2015 at a cost of Rs.3.5 crore, the park showcases biodiversity and is home to a host of forest plant species, a large avian community, butterflies, wild boars and monkeys. It houses 11,000 fully grown tree species including neem, pala (Oxystelma esculentum), teak, Regu (Ziziphus nummularia) and hundreds of herbal plants.

In order to provide recreation to the people of Mancherial, Kyathanpalli municipalities and peripheral villages, a slew of amenities are going to be created in the park. A convention centre, children’s play area, food court, boating, crafts stalls, cottages, watch tower, cultural museum, etc, are among the proposed facilities, which are estimated to cost about Rs.20 crore. The design will be finalised in a couple of weeks, with the park to be named KCR Urban Park.

The picturesque park is already frequented by fitness freaks, morning joggers and nature lovers from not only Mancherial, but Kyathanpalli, Koteshwaraopalli, Kurmapalli, Thimmapur and Bokkalagutta. It has a 3 kilometre walking track. In July last, Forest officials had planned renovation of the park and took up a massive plantation drive. Around 50,000 saplings of bamboo, fruit-bearing, shade-bearing and native forest species were planted in empty spaces and gaps and on either sides of the walking track.

KTR to lay foundation stone to facelift works

Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister KT Rama Rao will lay the foundation stone for the project shortly. He is also expected to inaugurate a slew of developmental projects including a Rs.500 crore-oil palm seed processing unit in Mandamarri apart from handing over house titles to 1,200 occupants of lands belonging to the SCCL soon.