Parks in state of neglect at Focal Points

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 30

Over a dozen public parks in Focal Points have been lying in a state of neglect. Some of them have become dumpsites and piles of garbage can be seen inside them. In the absence of any efforts towards maintenance, they have become a haven for gamblers.

Some dyeing units conveniently throw waste into these plots, damaging the soil and environment, even as there exists not even a pretense of enforcing environmental protection law.

Industrialists say they have made many attempts to convince authorities to hand them over these parks for maintenance, but the government has not heeded to that as well.

Pankaj Sharma, president, Association of Trade and Industrial Undertakings (ATIU), told The Tribune that a huge public park exists right next to the ATIU office as well. Like most other parks in the area, it is also in a bad shape.

“We have made many requests to the authorities concerned to hand over a few parks to us for maintenance but there has been no positive response,” Sharma said.

Other members of the association, including Rishabh Gupta and Sanjay Gupta, said there are more than 12 parks in Focal Points in phases 4, 5 and 6 and the ATIU is ready to take care of at least two or three of them.

“We can maintain them well if they are handed over for maintenance. We will turn them the lungs of the industrial city,” Gupta said.

Presently, many of these parks have been encroached upon for dumping scrap and many have started performing religious activities. “For many, they have become a haven for consuming drugs,” another industrialist said.

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