Gone with the wind: At Lake View Park, canopy worth Rs70 million is no more

Despite guaranteed lifespan of 30 years, it became dysfunctional after around two.

ISLAMABAD:

At times, the actions of the capital’s civic authority resemble those of a spoilt child who wastes his parents’ money on new toys, discards them after a while and obsesses over the latest attraction.

It was in 2010 when while visiting the Lake View Park, then chairman of the Capital Development Authority suggested the construction of an eye-catching cover for the designated food court to provide shelter so visitors could enjoy themselves regardless of the weather.

The idea cost the authority around Rs70 million as a gigantic Teflon-coated canopy was installed at the site after procuring it through a private firm.



If one visits the park now, the facility is nowhere to be seen. Designed for a life span of at least 30 years, the canopy collapsed in April 2012 during a hailstorm, claimed Abdul Hafeez, a former project manager of Lake View Park.

“To complete the guaranteed life span, such structures require specific maintenance. Soon after its installation, the now devolved Project Management Office (PMO) asked the environment wing of the authority to take over the project but they did not do so,” Hafeez claimed.

“In the absence of technical maintenance, unskilled officials deputed at the park misused the canopy by tying it the wrong way,” he said, adding that it collapsed as a result. However, the canopy was returned to the contractor whose performance guarantee was still with CDA. “In April 2012, it was given to the contractor for repairs and consequent reinstallation. It is still with the contractor,” Hafeez said.



CDA Parks Director Rana Tahir said the CDA’s environment wing had so far not taken over the project. “The former caretakers have been asked to hand over the project to the environment wing after completing repairs and reinstallation,” Tahir said. Recently, a committee had also been formed to oversee issues related to taking over PMO’s projects. “The canopy will be set up again within a week or two,” he added.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Idrees, the incumbent manager of Lake View Park, said “I have recently been appointed and do not have sufficient information about the issue.”

This project is among several others that were executed by the devolved PMO for millions of rupees including the installation of a dancing fountain, dinosaur replica and a tourist train.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2013.