Lack of drinking water troubles visitors at Rose Garden

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 22 

The Rose Garden, one of the most important tourist spots in the city, has been facing the official apathy for long, resulting in the lack of basic amenities for tourists. 

Inadequate water arrangements, open electricity junction boxes and the unclean choe that passes through it greet visitors here. 

Moreover, those who are regularly visiting it for the morning and evening walks, are not happy either when it comes to infrastructure and other arrangements. Tourists can be seen searching for cold water. The lone water cooler there is lying defunct for months. An employee working there said the water cooler stopped functioning six months ago. Since then nobody cared to make it functional. 

Sumit, a tourist from Bihar, said though water was available at the garden, it was too hot to drink. He said cool water should be provided at regular intervals. MPS Chawla, former councillor and a  regular visitor to the place, said there was only one water cooler for the entire garden, which was not working.

Another tourist, Rajan, said the bridge over the choe required repairs. Besides, the open electricity junction boxes  are  also posing danger to visitors. Located in Sector 16 of Chandigarh, the Rose Garden is spread over a massive area of 30 acres and has an exquisite variety of roses, making it quite popular among tourists. It is the largest garden of its kind in Asia and was built in 1967 under the guidance of the first Chief Commissioner MS Randhawa. Named after India’s former President Zakir Hussain, it is known as the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden.     

Shortcomings

Inadequate water arrangements, open electricity junction boxes and the unclean choe that passes through it greet visitors at the Rose Garden. Tourists can be seen searching for cold water. The lone water cooler there is lying defunct for months. An employee working there said the water cooler stopped functioning six months ago. Notably, It is the largest garden of its kind in Asia and was built in 1967