State of parks: Green belt near Alaska Chowk turns a safe refuge for addicts

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Jalandhar, July 4

A visit to Guru Nanak Park can scare a common visitor. One can spot syringes and glasses while taking a walk around its triangular boundary. With dark, dense trees and hedges all around and hardly any visitors from the nearby localities due to its poor upkeep, the park near Alaska Chowk has become a safe haven for the addicts.

The park has been named after Guru Nanak Dev, but it is anti-social elements who have somehow occupied it, thanks to the apathy of civic body authorities who have turned a blind eye to it.

The location of the park is such that there are shops selling batteries, inverters and motor parts all around. It is suspected that some workers from these shops along with addicts use the park as a hideout at night to consume drugs or liquor.

The park is also being used by shopkeepers as a dumping yard to throw their waste on a daily basis. The tiled footpath in the park remains littered and no one can use it for walking or jogging purposes. There are some worn out swings inside the park, which have rusted as no one uses them.

The park has a volleyball net installed in one corner, which perhaps is an indication that some youths or residents of adjoining localities had attempted to use the place to enjoy the game in the morning and evening. Shopkeepers said no one comes to the park for any game these days.

Subhash Kalia, a resident of Ladowali Road area, said: “It has been months since we have seen any resident from the vicinity using this park for a morning or evening stroll. If it continues to be misused this way, it surely will become a permanent dumping yard.”

Various educational institutions fall on the road right in front of this park, including Government Education College and Guru Nanak Dev University College. Two government schools, office of the District Education Officer and the depot of the Punjab School Education Board also fall nearby.

A teacher from a government school said: “MC officials must stop the misuse of the park and check the activities of anti-social elements as it could have an adverse effect on students coming this side.”

An official from the horticulture wing of the Municipal Corporation said, “We will surely get the park checked and see what ails it.”

Dumping yard for shopkeepers

• The location of the park is such that there are shops selling batteries, inverters and motor parts all around.
• It is suspected that some workers from these shops along with addicts use the park as a hideout at night to consume drugs or liquor.
• The park is also being used by shopkeepers as a dumping yard to throw their waste on a daily basis.
• The tiled footpath in the park remains littered and no one can use it for walking or jogging purposes.

No resident uses the park

It has been months since we have seen any resident from the vicinity using this park for a morning or evening stroll. If it continues to be misused this way, it surely will become a permanent dumping yard. Subhash Kalia, a resident of Ladowali road area