Playgrounds, gardens in ruins

PHA’s preoccupation with upgrading famous parks has compromised maintenance of other gardens

LAHORE:

In its efforts to secure public approval, the provincial government has heavily invested in modernising the urban landscape by upgrading famous recreational grounds; however, this obsession comes at a cost for smaller parks which are suffering neglect and are in ruins.

Despite the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) announcing its plans and efforts to upgrade, maintain and restore all parks and gardens in Punjab, the majority of its resources and manpower has been allocated for the upkeep of a few famous parks, in proximity to the residences of bureaucrats and statesmen. Whereas smaller parks and gardens in the city, frequented by the general public, have been wholly ignored, pushing them into an abysmal state.

“The park near our house is in utter disrepair since it has no functional restrooms or clean water coolers,” said Shahzeb Shahid, a resident of the Journalist Housing Colony, who further added that stagnant rainwater had inundated the grounds and jogging tracks and the greenery had withered.

Similarly, Qudratullah, a local from Amir Town highlighted the fact that many small parks no longer had playgrounds available for children to play. “The few slides, swings and seesaws in the park are broken and hence unsafe for children to use,” complained Qudrutullah, who further said that he had contacted the PHA multiple times to voice his concerns but no one bothered.

While some citizens shed light on the poor maintenance in the parks, others alluded to the substandard security arrangements, which prevented locals from frequenting these spaces.

“No closed-circuit television (CCTV) installations or security guards are arranged in the park, which makes it highly unsafe for people to visit these places with their families,” alerted Sajida Khanum, a local from the Barki area.

According to sources privy to the information, out of the 828 large and small parks entrusted to the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), 300 remain neglected, with little or no maintenance since the PHA directs most of its efforts towards upgrading only 7 famous parks including the Greater Iqbal Park, Racecourse Park, Jinnah Park, Jallo Botanical Garden, Gulshan Iqbal Park, Ladies Park, and Qureshi Park.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on the matter, the Director General of Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Muhammad Tahir Wattoo said, “we are doing our best to improve the water and sanitation facilities in all parks across Lahore without discrimination. We are also in the process of planting 700 trees including white fig, bori pescara, golden shower tree, Arjun tree, Indian lilac and Indian beach tree across various gardens.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2023.