Baba Balak Nath Nagar park in total disarray

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, June 22

Years ago, residents of the Baba Balak Nath Nagar under their housing society decided to develop the unused land around a tubewell into a park for the locality’s children and women who had nowhere to take an evening walk.

Want to revive it

After then councillor Sushil Kalia’s death, no one has bothered to restore the park. The gardener’s wages have also stopped and now its in complete disarray. We are still keen on reviving it as women of the area need a recreational space.

Rahul Kumar, advocate

A boundary was set up by residents’ funds; and years later with the help of then Congress councillor Sushil Kalia, benches were installed, lawns were planted and a host of plants were grown around the tubewell and it was furnished with paths and walkways – providing a verdant paradise for the residents to relax on tired evenings. The verdant paradise today lies destroyed.

The housing society was disbanded. Tragically, the Congress councillor who helped revive their dream park Ward No.64 former councillor Sushil Vicky Kalia ended life by suicide in January.

Today, the benches are broken, the lawn is reduced to a huge balding patch, pathways have been overtaken by wild grass, weeds and shrubbery and the plants have died out – some of them to wounds inflicted by stray cricket balls hit so hard that their entire crowns or branches were chopped off, leaving them withering.

The park fell into disuse during Covid. Now a group of youths, who have made it the venue for their evening game of cricket, haven’t helped the matters. Their running around has cost the grass, and their bats and balls haven’t spared the plants.

Advocate Rahul Kumar, a resident of the Baba Balak Nath Nagar, says, “The park was a pleasure to be in some years ago. Women and residents had started frequenting it for their evening walks and the manicured lawns were a sight for sore eyes. The women in the area needed some place to walk so residents aired these demands to the then councillor who got the park pathways, benches, plants and a gardener under the MC’s park development plan. However, the park slowly began to deteriorate during Covid and after the councillor’s death, no one has even bothered to restore it. The mali’s wages also stopped and now its in complete disarray.”

He adds, “Four to five of us are still keen on reviving it as the women of the area genuinely need a recreational space. However, a set of youths pose a challenge. They come in every day between 5 to 7 to play cricket; they have scant regard for the premises. Their balls hit the plants, causing many to die. The grass has withered, baring the soil, from all the running.”

Manju Rani, a resident of the area says, “The park fell into disrepair gradually in front of our own eyes. It was much frequented when maintained. It is a small land but enough to provide an evening’s relaxation. There is no other park in the area so residents lack a recreational space to spend their evenings. This is very limiting for us as there is no place to get a bit of fresh air.”