Barbecues, picnics lure fun seekers to parks

This year, four Eid holidays were announced by the government from September 1 to 4

RAWALPINDI: A large number of fun seekers including women and children thronged to the city parks on Sunday and Monday to celebrate the Eid festival which was celebrated on Saturday throughout the country with religious fervour and enthusiasm to pay homage to the great sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS).

This year, four Eid holidays were announced by the government from Sept 1 to 4. Having spent the first day of Eid on Saturday on ritual exercise of sacrificing animals and greeting relatives, friends and near and dear ones, the citizens were seen flocking to numerous parks of twin cities like Nawaz Sharif Park, Ayub National Park, Family park Commercial markets, Jinnah park, Rawal Lake View Park, Fatima Jinnah Park, Shakarparian, Daman-e-Koh, Rawal Dam and Pir Sohawa on the second and third day of Eid.

Girls were seen taking swings while children were enjoying other games and the parents were exuberant to see smiles on the faces of their children. The reason behind fun making at the parks was that the school children were free and fully enjoying Eid holidays, as the schools would open again on Tuesday after Eid holidays. “It’s really very exciting to enjoy Eid at the aesthetically developed recreational spot,” said Amjid, who came to Nawaz Sharif Park along with his family.

“We had a lot of fun and we also cooked meal here,” said Mohammad Altaf who was at Ayub Park with his friends to enjoy the Eid.

There was very little transport on the roads and taxi and Rickshaw drivers were charging exorbitantly, yet a large number of youngsters and families managed to reach the recreational spots on motorcycles to enjoy the Eid.

“It is nice to visit picnic spots on Eid days as they have more attraction for the visitors as compared to normal days,” said Naeem Ahmed, a student enjoying Eid festivity at Jinnah Park.

However, the people were complaining about lack of facilities at the parks and high rates of edibles at canteens and cafeteria as well. They were also irritated while paying extra money for parking facilities at most of the parks.

They were of the view that the government should make entry to all the parks with parking facilities free and the prices of all items at canteens should be checked and controlled by the authorities concerned, so that the people could enjoy.

A large number of people were also seen traveling towards Murree Hills to enjoy Eid celebrations.

The parks in the town were specially decorated to make them attractive for the visitors. The people also demanded of the government to make new gardens and allocate places for small parks at housing localities so that the people should not cover long distances, which also create transportation problems for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2017.