Citizens flock to parks, recreational places

People complain of overcharging by taxi, rickshaw drivers

RAWALPINDI:

A large number of citizens including women and children on Friday—the third day of Eidul Azha—visited various recreational places including parks, zoos and cinemas in Rawalpindi.

After the traditional exchange of Eid greetings with their relatives, friends, dear and near ones and doing away with the obligation of sacrificing animals, people flocked to hotels and food streets to enjoy the festive occasion.

They visited Ayub Park, Rawal Dam, Allama Iqbal Park, Daman e Koh, Patriata, Ladies Parks, Rumi Park, zoo and other places with their families. Special arrangements had been put in place in parks and other recreational places to facilitate the citizens, especially the children.

Punjab Chief Minister’s Adviser on Tourism Asif Mehmood, taking notice of the opening of parks as late as 3 pm had directed that all the recreational places be opened in the morning. Subsequently, families which had returned home closure of parks showed up again.

In Rawalpindi, admission to the parks was free, however, tickets for swings, dodging cars, and other accessories were fixed at Rs50 to Rs300. Parking for vehicles was priced at Rs30 to Rs50. The motorcycle parking fee was being charged at Rs20 to Rs30.

Private transporters charged exorbitant fares from the citizens to ferry them to the parks. Taxis and rickshaws drivers reportedly charged Rs300 in fare for the distance between Ayub Park and Committee Chowk.

Similarly, taxi and rickshaw drivers charged Rs250 to cover the distance between Allama Iqbal Park and Committee Chowk, Rs200 from Committee Chowk to Jinnah Park, Rs200, from Saddar to Rumi Park, Rs1000 from Committee Chowk to Patriata chairlift, Rs900 for a one-side trip from Committee Chowk to Daman Koh and Rs900 for covering the single trip from Committee Chowk to Rawal Dam.

Drinks, snacks and other food items were available inside parks and were being sold at 30 per cent high price than the market rate.

A lot of families in Ayub Park complained of suffering from severe heatstroke. Many families continued to enjoy scooter boating in both lakes. Children continue to enjoy riding horses and having fun dodging cars, trains and ghost bungalows.

Children also watched monkeys, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, camels and deer and took selfies with them at the Jungle Kingdom. There was also an enormous rush of families on the Patriata chairlift. The chairlift fee was Rs700 and boating was charged at Rs500.

Traffic outside all the parks in the twin cities was heavily congested from 11 am to 11 pm. On the first day of Eid, there was no rush in parks and recreational areas as citizens were busy sacrificing animals in their homes. After five o’clock in the evening, however, citizens started showing up at the parks. On the second and third day of Eid, parks operated in full swing from 11am till midnight. Extremely foolproof arrangements had been made for cleanliness and security in all parks.

Families and children Zeeshan Ali, Kamil Hussain, Akmal Mahmood and Zahra while talking to The Express Tribune maintained said that they found great pleasure by visiting the parks.

However, they complained that the prices of all items in the parks were very high. They said that a small plate of Dhai Bhalla was being given at Rs150 to Rs200, a small can of juice is available at Rs40 to Rs50. The tickets for various swings, dodging car, shooting ball and ghost bungalow is also very high.