The Department of Environment and Tehran Municipality have signed a memorandum of understanding based on which TM will be responsible for restoration and maintenance of Pardisan Park in northwest Tehran over the next 15 years.
The MoU was signed on Sunday by Isa Kalantari, DOE chief, and Mohammad Ali Najafi, Tehran's mayor, both appointed under two months ago. TM has earmarked 3 trillion rials ($75 million) for the restoration of Tehran's largest park, which will be allocated within four years, ISNA reported.
Pardisan Park belongs to DOE and is where the department's central office is located. According to Kalantari, it is in a poor condition now.
"Trees have dries up, fire incidents have occurred, irrigation is facing challenges and there is not sufficient lighting at night," he said.
DOE has not maintained it well and claims that this is due to its limited financial resources.
"The total budget of DOE is 5.2 trillion rials ($130 million), which is a third of Tehran Municipality's funds," he said.
DOE had held negotiations with TM on the issue for several years but to no avail. With the arrival of the new mayor, the task has finally been handed over to the Tehran Parks and Green Spaces Organization, a TM subsidiary.
According to Kalantari, two development plans have been devised for Pardisan Park. In the original plan, the park was meant to showcase environmental features of the world but it is not feasible now as the area of the park has shrunk by 70 to 80 hectares. Parts of the land are now occupied by Milad Tower, sections have been ceded to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and portions have turned into expressways.
The other plan was devised about 20 years ago based on which Iran's wildlife will be showcased in the park. The current redevelopment project will be carried out based on the second plan.
Supplying water for irrigation, providing lighting, expanding and maintaining green spaces, refurbishing exhibition areas, developing the cultural, sport and educational facilities without disturbing the park's structure, establishing a quarantine area for plant species and a museum for plant and animal species, as well as holding educational programs on environmental occasions, are among the TM responsibilities.
DOE will hand over all relevant documents and jurisdiction of the park's area and facilities to the municipality, except for DOE's administrative buildings, museums and halls.
Besides, 12 hectares of the park given to the Energy Ministry for the construction of a water museum will be reclaimed and transferred to the Tehran Parks and Green Spaces Organization.
However, the legal ownership of the entire property will remain with DOE.
The MoU is valid for 15 years and extendable. With an area of 275 hectares, Parisan Park is the largest park in Tehran. It is surrounded by Hemmat, Hakim and Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri expressways on three sides and extends toward Pounak River on one side.
