Hisar: Town Park in bad shape, courtesy poor upkeep

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, January 11

The Town Park, the main park in Hisar, has been in bad shape, thanks to the negligent attitude of the authorities who are responsible for its upkeep. Thousands of people visit the town park daily for morning and evening walk, however, they blame the official apathy for the lack of maintenance of the park.

Located along the district jail in the old Police Lines Area (PLA) along the Delhi Road, the Town Park spread over eight acres was constructed about two decades ago. The park is the main attraction of residents due to its central location as people from the PLA sector, Sectors 13,15,16,17, Bank Colony, Green Park, Krishna Colony, Defence Colony and even from the far off localities arrive in mornings and evenings.

The basic infrastructure and facilities, including the toilet, open gym, waterfall, fountains are rendered useless. Surender Narang, a morning walker to the park, said the toilet was unclean. “The toilet sheets are broken. The water keeps on leaking. There is no provision of cleanliness and hygiene”, he said. Besides, the machines of the open gym which was set up just before the Covid pandemic is also not operational.

Narang said local MLA Dr Kamal Gupta had also visited the park and was also apprised of the problems. “Sirsa BJP MP Sunita Duggal also came for morning walk once and we also pointed out the problems to her. On another occasion, we have also brought the matter to the notice of Hisar BJP MLA Brijendra Singh”, he said adding that now, Hisar MLA Dr Gupta had become the minister of Urban Local Bodies in the state government and the local residents now hope that the condition of the town park will improve now.

Dr Mahender Juneja, a municipal corporation member, said he had taken up the issue with the district authorities concerned. “The waterfall and fountains used to be a major attraction in the town. But in the absence of maintenance, the fountains are just a showpiece now. Even the footpath for the morning walkers also need to be repaired”, he said. Dr Juneja said the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) was responsible for the maintenance of the park.

An official of the HSVP stated that they were in the process of allocating the tender for the maintenance of the town park. “Earlier, we had opened the bid for the maintenance but the tender had to be recalled on technical grounds. I hope that the fresh tender process will be successful”, he said.