Aurangabad: Here is good news for the tourists and visitors as they would be able to soon enjoy seeing the dancing of the colourful water fountains to the tunes of the popular Hindi and Marathi film songs at Siddharth Garden in the new year.
Meanwhile, the work on fountains is in the last segment of completion, said the garden superintendent Vijay Patil adding that the decision upon extending the timings of the garden till late in the evening is also under consideration.
The region’s biggest garden is visited by lakhs of visitors and tourists every year. To entertain them, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) introduced the musical fountains in the garden way back in 1997. The musical fountain was started on the lines of the Saint Dnyaneshwar Udyan in Paithan, but due to lack of maintenance, the fountains got defunct. In addition, the civic administration also forgot about the fountains.
Meanwhile, to prevent the growing pollution threat in the city, the Central Government had released crores of rupees in funds to the AMC under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). The AMC decided to utilise the fund on repairing the old and defunct fountains and constructing new ones at various squares and gardens in the city. The AMC hope the fountains will reduce the dust particles in the air. Meanwhile, the AMC by spending Rs 2.5 crore, built new fountains at Mahavir Chowk, old Mondha, Dhoot Hospital Chowk, CIDCO N-1 and Damdi Mahal and also restored the functioning of defunct fountains at Swami Vivekananda Udyan, Nehru Bal Udyan, Salim Ali Sarovar Garden, Poetry Garden in Jyotinagar and musical fountains in Siddharth Garden.
Patil added the fountain work in Siddharth Garden is nearing completion. The fountains cover an area of about half an acre. The AMC has developed green grass around them so that the visitors could sit on the greenery and enjoy seeing the dancing fountains. The musical fountains will entertain the visitors and refresh them.
Extend in timings
The colourful musical fountains could be enjoyed seeing after the sunset. Therefore, the administration will be extending its duration. Presently, the garden is open for visitors from 10 am to 7 pm. Very soon the timing of closure will be extended till 9 pm, it is learnt.