Gol Bagh sans basic facilities, neglected

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 20

Even as the children’s park at the historic Ram Bagh, popularly known as Company Bagh, got a lion’s share in development, another prominent park in the city, the Gol Bagh, has not received any attention.

All the swings of the park are missing while its slides are worn out. Children do not have any reason to visit the park as there is no play station intact.

A resident, Ravinder Kumar, said since the Company Bagh fell in the North constituency of Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, it got a musical fountain, an artificial zoo and now its children’s park was also being developed.

However, the entire Gol Bagh, including its children’s park, is a picture of neglect and apathy. All necessary basic amenities like street lights and sewerage drains are in a shambles while all apparatus like swings and slides are out of order.

A majority of street lights in the park are non functional, leaving visitors, especially women with children, in the lurch. A resident of Katra Moti Ram, Anchal Mehra, said though the Gol Bagh was situated near their house, children from their neighbourhood seldom visited there as it was sans facilities. They preferred to go to the far located Company Bagh and Amrit Anand park.

Left and right portions of the central garden are lying unused and are without any greenery. Similar is the fate of the rear side of the bagh. The unused area of the park has allegedly become a haven for anti-social elements, beggars and rag pickers. Some of them have even raised shanties inside it.

Another resident, Parkash Chand, said a big problem was of the poor drainage system. He said even a slight shower was enough to cause waterlogging in the park. The boundary wall of the park is also demolished at many places and people have even dumped garbage in the park. The public park stands close to the densely populated walled city. Its children’s park used to provide recreational facility to the children coming from narrow lanes of the city.

RESIDENTSPEAK

A resident, Parkash Chand, said a big problem was of the poor drainage system. He said even a slight shower was enough to cause waterlogging in the park. The boundary wall of the park was also demolished at many places and people had even dumped garbage in the park