After the floods, park remains deserted

Parks in Swat look like deserted islands because of the floods.

SWAT: Fizagat Park, located along the banks of the Swat River, was at one time the most scenic park in Swat which was always packed with tourists across the country. Now it looks like a deserted island because of the floods. The park was constructed in the ‘80s along the Swat River on the main road from Mingora to Kalam. It was the only source of entertainment for the local people where they would enjoy the peaceful environment on its banks with the cool breeze and the fresh air.

Usually, people from the whole district and across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would visit it during the Eid holidays and would be presented with the view of a colourful fair. The park had a wide range of traditional rides for children too. But unfortunately, this year when the floods struck the valley, Fizagat Park was also devastated. The floods washed away its retaining walls and filled it with mud and sand. Plus the one-kilometre road which leads to the park is also partially submerged and has large potholes. It is virtually impossible for pedestrians to cross it and dangerous for vehicles as well.

This year too, many people made a beeline for the park, only to be disappointed when they got there. Majid, a tourist from Timergarh in Dir, was taking a stroll in the park with his other friends and told The Express Tribune, “There would be a great rush of people on Eid and other vacations. It was a perfect tourist spot, fulfilling tourists’ every need. But now the park is deserted and in very bad condition.” About the hurdles he said, “First of all the road is like a lake of water. There is no other way to reach the park. At least the government should have cleared up the rubble by now, but unfortunately no one has touched it so far.”

Saleem, the owner of the roller coaster in the park, while operating the rides said that, “We lost a lot in the floods, our expensive machines and rides were destroyed by the floodwater while the rest of them are full of rubble, mud and sand. We removed the rubble and mud by ourselves after a month of continuous labour and made some of the machines functional. No government or non-government organisation has tried to help us.”

“There would be a great rush of people on Eid days but now you see people come here and go back because there is nothing of interest left.” He said sadly. “In this regard, we met with the DCO but his response was very harsh and unsatisfactory. He said that it would take a year to restore it to how it was.”

Fazal Akbar, a tourist from Dir told The Express Tribune, “Everything has been destroyed here. We were very disappointed to travel all the way with the expectation that the park would have been cleared of mud and sand by now.”

Rahim, the owner of an ice-cream parlour, said that, ”People come here but they go back as nothing is left here, it has affected our business greatly, and our sales have decreased to just 10 per cent of what they were in the days before the floods.”

The presence of the local people and tourists from the other districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Fizagat Park, prove that flood victims seek ways of entertainment to escape from their miseries. Therefore, they demand that the responsible authorities restore and reconstruct their old means of entertainment as soon as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2010.