Children’s park : Playland in dilapidated condition

Park gifted to city's children by Japanese govt neglected by CDA officials.

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Children’s Park commonly known as Playland is in a dilapidated condition.

The park located near Margazar Zoo was established back in 1985 by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which was a gift to the children of the city by the Japanese government.

The park spreads over a total area of 25 acres and has as many as 152 different swings. The park is also a picnic spot for families.

Over the last few years, however, the park has lost its attraction because of negligence from the concerned authorities.

Many swings are broken and children have even been injured on a few occasions.

Despite that fact that CDA deputed 35 gardeners to the park, there is garbage scattered inside the park. Visitors at the park expressed annoyance at the deteriorating condition of their favourite park. “These kinds of swings are not available anywhere else in the city, but now they are breaking and so many are out of order,” said one young visitor.  Another visitor Ali Hassan told The Express Tribune that there were many parks in the city but this park used to be the best. “I used to come here a lot in the past, but now it is losing appeal,” he said. He said it was the responsibility of concerned authorities to maintain the park. They should repair the swing or replace them.

Another visitor Musa Kaleem who was leaving with his children was disappointed as he left the park. “An excellent play area including swings, monkey bars, slides and swing ropes used to be a dream come true for children, but now there is so much garbage we have decided to cut our visit short,” he said.

Director General Environment CDA Sheikh Salman, who is responsible for the cleanliness of the park, said that some sanitary workers were busy on Eid. He said that was the main reason for the litter lying around and promised to look into the matter. When contacted Director General Parks in CDA Asif Majeed said, “We tried to replace these swings, but this material is not available in Pakistan and it was brought from Japan as gift.”

He cited budget constraints regarding repair of the swings.

The city management also urged people not to throw litter in the parks and use the dustbins.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2010.