Parks in green belt a picture of neglect

Jaswant Shetra

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 19

The parks in the green belt along the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) in Salem Tabri area of Ludhiana are a perfect example of civic body’s apathy towards it.

Due to the lack of proper maintenance of green belt parks, these are in an utterly poor condition.

Garbage littered in the parks, presence of a large number of stray animals, broken grills, non-functional fountains is a common sight.

During a visit to these parks, it was found that the grills of many parks were broken from different places. Stray animals often enter these parks from the places where grills are broken and spoil the greenery of the parks.

Besides, nearby residents and shopkeepers often throw garbage in the parks thus adversely affecting its beauty.

Area residents said a large number of stray animals are attracted towards this area due to the Sabzi Mandi of Salem Tabri area.

“The shopkeepers and vendors selling fruits and vegetables often throw waste and rotten fruits and vegetables in the open, thus attracting stray animals. These stray animals enter the parks and spoil the greenery of parks,” said Karan Sharma, a resident of Salem Tabri.

The Municipal Corporation has deployed gardeners for the maintenance of these parks, but area residents revealed that gardeners rarely visit.

“I have not seen any gardener or any other employee of the civic body watering plants in the parks or cleaning the parks for a long time. The common people also need to be sanitised to not litre the parks,” said an employee of the nearby petrol pump.

Ludhiana MC Commissioner Jaskaran Singh said the civic body has been facing staff crunch, due to which green belts might be in a bad condition. “Many gardeners have retired in the past few years, but no more recruitment has been made due to dwindling financial condition of the MC. We will hire some gardeners on contract basis in the near future to maintain the parks. Besides, we have also been continuously encouraging park management committees and private parties to adopt and maintain the parks in the green belt,” he said.