In the supposedly posh residential colony of Shivlok Phase II are two public parks made few years back which have zero maintenance.
Broken gate and boundary wall, no swings for children, no walkways and garbage littered all around marks the parks located between water works colony and High Income Group flats of the colony near Tibdi area.
Complaints by local residents to Haridwar Roorkee Development Authority (HRDA) have gone unheard. The parks at a stone’s throw of each other are posing problems during monsoon season, when water puddles up and becomes breeding ground for mosquitoes.
These small parks under the purview of the HRDA showcase a dismal picture of neglect. They are used for cattle grazing with pigs and dogs also roaming inside. The sanitation workers of Municipal Corporation of Haridwar and water works colony, who live behind the two parks, use this as a dumping ground for garbage. Darshana Kumari, a resident says, “Sometimes it is difficult for us to sleep at night on account of the stench which emanates from the garbage dumped inside the park. Our house has a common boundary wall with the park. No maintenance is done for this park.
Despite numerous complaints to the district authorities, the park continues to be in shambles.”
The parks are meant to provide solace to those living in the surrounding residential area but here it is a full time nuisance posing health threat to the surroundings, complain the residents.
Entrepreneur Manu Dev Verma says, “We have been living here in Shivlok since 1994 and have never seen the park clean. Everytime we go for morning and evening walks, we have to cover our nose. The park has become a dumping ground and when thunderstorm and rain showers come, the stink and health risk from the garbage is exacerbated.
Big parks are still taken care of by authorities but small parks always face neglect. PM Modi’s Swachchh Bharat Mission appears non-existent here. If it is cleaned, the residents can maintain but initiative needs to be taken by HRDA.” Come monsoon, the park becomes breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Locals aver that for development of parks, crores of rupees are allocated but the results appear negligible. With the area becoming a concrete jungle there is no place for the children to play.
When asked about this, the HRDA vice chairman Alok Pandey said, “There is no separate budget allocated for maintenance of parks. We are in the process of developing city park and one children’s park. If few residents of phase II area write to us in a common application, we shall develop the park.”