Former Mayor backs Model Town residents opposing café in park

Former Mayor Amrinder Singh Bazaz has come out in the support of Model Town residents opposing a private café in a public park.

Reacting to a report published in these columns, the former Mayor expressed anguish and surprise on the move of MC officials to “hand over prime land for a private café”, tweaking norms.

In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner and the MC Commissioner, Bazaz stated that the “brazen move” of the MC to lease out public parks to private cafés was nothing less than a daylight robbery of public property. “Parks are the lungs of the city, already scarce and fast disappearing. Instead of preserving them, the MC is selling them off to private players,” he wrote.

“This is a classic case of connivance between the MC and land mafia. Hefty amounts are collected from citizens in the form of house tax, water tax and numerous other levies, yet not a single rupee is spent on maintaining parks. On the contrary, the civic body is indulging in illegal transfers to hospitality firms for peanuts, while the residents are left without basic amenities,” said Bazaz, who says he would hold a dharna if the project was not stalled.

Two days ago, it was highlighted in these columns that the cash-strapped district administration has started leasing out public parks to private cafes, drawing criticism from locals. Park land worth crores has been given for seven years on lease to a private company to raise and run a cafeteria in Model Town area.

Local residents rued that when they had bought these plots from the government, they had paid an extra premium as these were park facing.

Mayor Kundan Gogia has also stated that such parks should be for public and not cafes. “If the local residents are opposing the move, we should respect their feeling and not circumvent rules to allow a café for outsiders,” he stated.

Talking to TNS, Bazaz said Patiala already stood ruined. “Garbage heaps dot every street, potholed and broken roads make travel a nightmare, sewers are choked, trees untrimmed and streetlights defunct. It should be probed as to who allowed the transfer of public park space for a café at throwaway prices,” he said.