Most parks in Multan remain deserted

Families cite lack of safety for children, swings and slides

MULTAN:

The city’s parks are failing to attract families, due to a minimal amount of children’s entertainment equipment and other missing facilities at the 79 parks supervised by the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA).

According to the details, of the total 79 parks in Multan, only a few have kids’ entertainment equipment, while a large number of parks also lack other facilities that usually tempt the public to visit.

Most families visit parks to entertain their children, but automatic swings and slides are available only at Shah Shams Park. Although some 40 parks in the city feature manual kids’ entertainment equipment including swings, parents deem them too dangerous for their children and avoid visiting these parks.

A citizen namely Muhammad Sohail told the media that he had not visited any park with his family for the last three years, due to a lack of facilities for families. He also pointed out poor security arrangements at parks, which bar families from visiting them. “Instead of going to a park, I prefer visiting any of the various food points in the city where play areas with the latest and automatic entertainment equipment have been established for kids,” he added.

Another citizen, Zubair Gurmani, said there should be proper security arrangements, boundary walls, swings, slides, toilets and other facilities in parks to attract families.

When contacted, PHA spokesman Jalaluddin responded that arrangements were being made to restore recreational activities in parks by providing missing facilities. He stated that due to mishaps in the past, the administration was installing swings after a comprehensive physical examination.

He said equipment for kids was available at about 40 parks, including Officer Colony Eidgah Park, Allama Iqbal Park Nawan Shehr, Arts Council Park and others where the swings and slides were operated manually.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2022.