Every good beginning in Ranchi is meeting with a painful end these days. The Nigam Park in Ranchi’s Morhabadi is no more a place where people usually enjoyed with their kids and joggers worked out for a healthy life.
The park has been closed from over 20 days because of pending correction of faults that appear minor but can wreck havoc if people are allowed in the park’s premises.
The web of naked electric wires laid to lighten the place in night has made the operator close it to save people’s lives especially in monsoon when the place becomes flooded with rain water. “Waterlogging is one of the concerns for us because of naked wires at many points. Therefore, we decided to close it to avoid any accident in monsoon. We have drawn attention of the municipal corporation towards this but to no avail,” said the park caretaker, Ranjan Kumar.
The caretaker claims to have written to RMC about four to five times but the municipal body pleaded ignorance about any letter sent to them to seek correction of faults. Also, the caretaker is fearful of snake bites that increase during monsoon. “I am not aware of any letter written by the caretaker of the park,” claimed Senior PRO Ramkrishna Kumar.
Poor wiring in the park which is adjacent to the most visited recreational spot, Sido-Kano Park, has raised fingers about the quality of material used to illuminate the place. The park has been constructed at a cost of Rs 35-lakh and is spread in 45,000 sqft. It features flowers, plants, foundations, grassy carpets, landscaped pathways and swings for children, but maintenance has gone for a toss since the place was locked by the caretaker.
“What is the point in maintaining it when we can’t run itIJ The contract was awarded for Rs 2.5-lakh but despite that I am not interested in continuing with the job,” added the caretaker. Closure of the once magnificent park has disheartened city’s leisure buffs as the ambience offered by it was matched by very few such places constructed in the city.
“It is sad that the greenery in the city is shrinking. We needed more places like that but we are facing closure instead,” said Rohit Munda, a student of Adivasi Hostel situated opposite the park.