Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam on Monday chaired the meeting of the State Level Steering Committee (SLSC) for improvement of parks and gardens in Jammu and Srinagar cities.The Committee reviewed the progress of development of parks and gardens in the cities being maintained by the Floriculture department and others like SMC, JMC, JDA, SDA, PWD (landscape division) and the Irrigation & Flood Control department.There are about 367 parks in Srinagar City and 282 Parks in Jammu city. Out of 367 parks in Srinagar City, 117 are being maintained by the Floriculture Department, while in Jammu City, the department maintains 153 parks.The Committee also discussed the draft Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for maintaining/improvement of public parks and gardens in the State prepared by the Floriculture, Gardens and Parks Department. The department was asked to circulate the draft SoP among all the concerned departments, who will share their comments on the SoP by 8th of October, 2018, for its early finalization. The SoP provides detailed guidelines for infrastructure and services required for maintaining cleanliness in all public parks maintained by government and private entities across the State.Chief Secretary asked the Floriculture, Gardens and Parks Department to move forward on the proposals discussed during the meeting so that adequate number of open spaces in the form of public parks, gardens and amusement parks are made available for the citizens across the State.