| Green belt parks lose sheen to choked drains, security guard tents | | Stink, withered leaves greet morning walkers | |  Akshay Azad
Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 6: Missing street lights, stinky drains and security guard tents greet the morning walkers in all the parks of most posh locality of Jammu city that is, Green belt park Gandhi Nagar.
Moreover, the Jammu and Kashmir Floriculture department, entrusted to look after these parks, has maintained not one or two but six nurseries of flowers and other ornamental plants but the Floriculture shop at the extreme end of parks is in pathetic condition.
The space of park, where the advertisement banner of this shop is hanging with a pole, is shared by two more banners of private individuals, probably after getting permission of authorities, but made shop's banner invisible.
The routine sale of this Floriculture shop remains between Rs. 400 to 500 that too at a time, when private nurseries' sale runs in several thousands, then simple question arise, where the plants of flowers and other items, nurtured in six nurseries of Floriculture department goes.
Expressing concern over condition of parks, Sudershan Kohli, a morning walker says that what is the rationale of developing so many nurseries besides another question arises where these plants and flowers go. "Either these are sent in the houses of bureaucrats, to remain in their good books by officials of Floriculture department or same are black marketed", he alleged.
He further says that only few of street lights in the lanes of green belt parks are working while remaining are missing. "A drain was constructed near the extreme park, near Bahu Plaza to drain water but same has been blocked.
Logged water in the drain is providing breeding ground to mosquitoes but none cares", he said.
Kohli further says that piles of dead leaves can be found almost in every park, besides there is no toilet facility for females in any of the park, which is very unfortunate.
"Tents of security guards in each of the park is an eyesore for morning walkers and it is beyond comprehension as why these pickets are not shifted in the lawns of bureaucrats, who have enough space in their house premises", he rued, adding that there was no rationale of providing security cover to retired government servants in peaceful Jammu and if they require, then it must be very close to them in their houses and not several hundred yards away from their house.
Sudershan Kohli further said that fountains were developed after spending several Crores of rupees, but were working only one time a day, which is also unfortunate. |
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