Parks should draw more people than drive them away

Open House: Is the MC doing enough and providing proper facilities in all parks for its residents?

Condition of parks is loathsome

The condition of parks is getting worse than before and these are in a pathetic condition as swings are broken and paints are peeling off. Heaps of garbage can be seen everywhere, boundaries are broken and gives freeway to cattle. Cows and buffaloes wander freely and cow dung can be easily seen on the tracks.

The parks are a common place for the elders to sit in the evening where they pass time, but due to the poor management and broken jogging tracks, they feel hesitant coming for walks there.

There are no dust bins, plants are never pruned and children are forced to play in the streets. Necessary steps should be taken to bring back the beauty of parks. Supervisors must be employed to ensure that parks are properly maintained. Full time gardeners should be employed and the neatly maintained jogging tracks, free equipment for exercise and swings for the children must be made available. Residents should also make an association to take care of these parks for beautifying the locality.

SHASHI KIRAN

Don’t chide MC, it’s our responsibility too

This pandemic was a sudden shake to the humanity and without any doubt it has caused us so much. From lives to deaths to unemployment to hunger, we saw so many ups and downs all along. It’s almost been a year now and it’s fair to say that things seem to be heading on track and slowly everybody is returning back to normalcy.

People who had been stuck at their homes for such a long while are now finally granted to move out of their places with protocol. Everyone in their own way is tackling with it and trying to overcome it, similarly the efforts done by the MC cannot be left unseen. The MC workers are doing their best to keep us safe, while we enjoy the benefits of the city parks. And I personally believe that our safety is in our hands. It is not only the responsibility of the authorities to keep things safe and sanitised but every individual’s as well to keep Covid-19 guidelines in mind to ensure own safety. We are all in this together.

Kalpana Bhatia

Empowering green growth in localities

Beautifully maintained parks and gardens in the vicinity of localities do fascinate everyone. Adding up to the grandeur of surrounding houses and buildings, parks provide a grand space for socialisation. They are, indeed, a source of eternal joy during morning/evening walks for the residents, where bloomers, plants and sprawling trees rejuvenate us. Obviously, it is the best option for everyone, especially children, women and elderly for spending quality time.

However, unlike foreign countries where parks and gardens get most attention, our civic bodies responsible for its upkeep often lack it. Some basic essentials like playway facilities for children, cycling and jogging tracks, and gyms equipment, etc are either seen in bad shape or rarely provided. What to talk of fulfillment of such needs, remote areas or corners in the parks are usually found laden with garbage and used as dumping sites for domestic waste, rendering a filthy look. Though the onus for carelessness squarely lies on civic bodies, yet residents can’t escape the blame.

Essentially, the parks and gardens are reserved in localities to provide breather from congestion and relief from climate pollution. Municipal councils, during annual budgeting, reserve adequate amount of funds for parks located within its limits to provide basic facilities like water, lighting, plantation and other infrastructure. But very sadly, such spending is often misused. For better management and close supervision of such sites, RWAs may be involved with authorities to ensure proper utilisation of funds earmarked. It will help to preserve environment and facilitate improvement of needed infrastructure. Well-maintained parks lend a soothing look.

NJS Chatrath

Goodness of parks limited to posh areas

According to me facility of a good park and open gym is only limited to posh areas of city. But when we look at less developed colonies, no such facilities are there. On the name of parks and open gym there is only a green piece of land with some swings in it. No jogging track or gym equipment is available. People use religious places like Devi Talab Mandir for this purpose. The MC wants Jalandhar to be a smart city but lacks in providing such basic amenities to people, especially to women and children. It is necessary that the MC should provide such facilities in every locality to elderly people, women and children. Green parks will also help in making environment clean and green.

Nikita

An outsider’s cry to MC

I came to Jalandhar three years ago from Kashmir and started exploring the new city as we do normally. Often, I would go to different parks when I wanted to spend my free time because we usually visit it for boosting out physical and mental health. Sometimes it disappoints me when I saw parks are available but not maintained as they should be. And some parks looked like weed cultivation land because in place of lush green soft grass there was wild growth bushing out everywhere. It is a request to the Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar as an outsider to maintain the city parks properly so that people and especially women, children and our senior citizens can get good environment around their localities. Also, the MC should invest on swings and fun parks for children.

Manzoor Ahmed Mir

Parks crucial for mental, physical health

According to me, many a times local urban governments neglect the responsibility of providing parks, gardens, playgrounds, etc. Sometimes they raise public parks but don’t care to maintain them. Its other aspect is that in many cities it is not possible to construct such amenities due to lack of space. Coronavirus has shown us the importance of health and hygiene and it is time to focus not only on money but health also. To promote the health, communal harmony and betterment of urban residents it is necessary that municipal authorities should pay attention to open gyms, jogging tracks at parks as it will be very helpful for young generation to distract from virtual world (mobile phones) and to connect with real world.

Aseem Kumar

Civic bodies downplay every complaint

The spectacle and maintenance of city parks are most reliable parameter of judging the level of performance of any local governing body. But unfortunately, a lot of things are still required in proper maintenance of our city parks in the context of providing facilities to our children, women and senior citizens. Those parks which were under the control of PUDA are the worst casualty after the same were transferred to local governing bodies for their further maintenance. However, local residents took the initiative to maintain these parks out of voluntary contributions and most survived but the apathy and indifferent attitude being shown by the local administration is deplorable. The municipal bodies take every complaint very casually and are not even acknowledged. First major grievance is related to non- disposal of dry garbage at fixed intervals even after regular complaints and phone calls. Second is related to the menace of stray animals, including street dogs which trespass and live at parks making the ambience hell-like with the connivance of some fake animal lovers. This poses a serious threat to the safety of children and other vulnerable visitors besides a challenging proposition to keep the park clean and its flora and fauna secure. Thirdly, there is lack of any kind of supervision on behalf of local government to check unauthorised cutting of trees, plants and gross misuse of parks on many counts. The pruning of trees and landscaping should be done regularly under expert guidance while ensuring strict compliance by all the stakeholders. More is required to be done and upgraded in the field of providing modern infrastructure for physical fitness of the visitors and entertainment of children.

Jagdish Chander

Smart city talk is just a mirage

While the municipal authorities are doing their work, the city still lacks facilities like parks, open gyms, jogging trails, etc as a smart city. Many decaying parks are not even fit for passers-by. Broken swings, pits and shattered stones are a major danger for children to play. In the pandemic time, people sitting at home visit the park for peace of mind. If the park environment is not conducive in itself, they feel more disturbed to go there. In some colonies, land for parks has been identified and in some the construction has been left incomplete. Due to lack of parks, children play on the streets, risking accidents and other problems in colonies everyday but the Municipal Corporation (MC) officials are ignoring them. The elderly also spend much of their time sitting in the balcony of their house, taking a walk on terrace or sitting outside the house because they have no options other than that. At the time of elections, the government claims that they will give us all the facilities that we are entitled to, but after the elections they will fulfill their promise by making one or two parks instead of 10 parks. Considering these things, the MC officials should start the action soon. Parks should be built in places where there is none. Parks in despicable condition should be quickly repaired and managed in a peaceful environment and hygiene. Along with this, proper arrangements for seating, drinking water and lights should also be made in these parks. There should be no broken swings in the park and dustbins are a must.

Shivallika

Proper utilisation of public funds needed

Along with pot-holed roads, garbage mismanagement, traffic snarls, stray animals and air pollution, another major challenge that the cities and towns in Punjab are confronted with is the pitiable condition of public parks. Planned and created to promote the social, physical, mental and emotional well-being of residents, particularly children, women and the elderly, these green open spaces have ceased to be the prime attraction, courtesy corruption, apathetic and lackadaisical attitude of the municipal authorities. Apart from unhindered private structural encroachments and building of market complexes and official residential quarters, the existing facilities in these shrinking parks such as swings, slides and other playing equipment, walking tracks, lights, taps and toilets remain constantly dysfunctional despite spending huge amounts of budgetary allocations over the years. Unchecked rubbish and litter of waste material, stagnant water, mushrooming of wild grass and unwanted plants have made these parks the virtual breeding ground for house flies, mosquitoes and reptiles. Moreover, in the absence of genuine visitors, they serve as safe havens for druggies, alcoholics, gamblers and other anti-social elements. Unfortunately, repeated requests to the concerned officials to stem the rot have fallen on deaf ears. Isn’t it the constitutional and moral responsibility of civic administration to maintain the beauty, ambience and eco-friendliness of these recreational places and parks? Proper utilisation of public funds, regular inspection, seeking support and cooperation from private individuals and groups like residents welfare associations (RWAs) and withholding permission for exhibitions, fetes and social and political functions will help a great deal to mop up the prevailing mess.

DS Kang

Hefty fine should be imposed on litterers

Gone are the days when children used to play in parks with their peers. In this age everything has changed since parks are not in the condition to roam and play. Actually parks are full of likes of people who smoke, drink and play cards. At times there is a fraught of garbage which looks filthy and nobody wants to go inside the park. It is the matter of concern and administration should think seriously about that. Hefty fine should be imposed on those who make parks deplorable. Parks are for children, adults and elder people to rejoice in recreational activities. However, the truth is that the parks need maintenance and administration should spend the taxable money of people on the parks.

Saahil Hans

QUESTION

Though the authorities are trying their best to end the menace of begging, people seeking alms are a common sight. What should the district administration, police and social organisations do to stop this practice?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (February 11).