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| Nowhere in the world is there a parking space for vehicles in the greens. While children play at Central Park in New York during early morning hours, an elderly man and his pet take a stroll at Delhi’s Lodhi Gardens. A parking lot at Veer Kunwar Singh Park would ruin its green for sure. Pictures by Ranjeet Kumar Dey and Reuters |
Morning walkers would soon be in a dilemma what to choose — fresh air or smoke and fumes.
Urban development and housing minister Samrat Choudhary has an ambitious plan — to build space for vehicles on the premises of parks — to end parking pangs thereby introducing what the city perennially asks for: adequate green cover.
In a talk with The Telegraph on Tuesday, Samrat said the move would be executed in all parks, which will come up in the future. However, Veer Kunwar Singh Park near R-Block will be the first park to witness grass chopped off to make space for vehicles.
“The department is serious towards the all-round development of the parks in the city. On Monday, I visited a few parks to see what can be done to develop them. Most of the parks witness a lot of health-conscious people coming for morning walks. But parking becomes a problem for them as most of them come on their two-wheelers. We have decided that in all the parks, which will be coming up in the future, parking lots for two-wheelers will be created inside the park itself. By this, we feel that the parking problem can be solved to an extent. Veer Kunwar Singh Park, earlier known as Hardinge Park, will be further developed and opened to the people very soon. A space for parking vehicles inside the park would also be created,” Samrat said.
However, the minister was quick to add that the parking lots would be developed after proper planning.
“We can develop the lots just for two-wheelers at a spot near the jogging tracks. People can just enter, park their vehicles and start with their exercises. In many of the existing parks, people coming for jogging or walks have to park their vehicles outside the premises. Many vehicles spill on the roads too thus blocking traffic movements. The fresh move will take care of the issue. I have issued directions for immediate development of the Veer Kunwar Singh Park and also told the department officials to give me the real status of the multi-level parking facility at Buddha Smriti Park,” Samrat said.
The minister’s vision was, however, not acceptable to experts.
R.S. Choudhary, former chief town planner, Patna, criticised the idea. “The minister is not competent to make such statements as he does not have any technical expertise. Here, anyone can just say anything without properly thinking about the several technical factors. One should know that a park is an open space and are the lungs of a city. Rather than planting trees and making them greener, they are talking about polluting it by creating parking areas. Encroachment is a problem just not in Patna but also in other cities. Creating new townships can be the only solution by which the problem of encroachments can be solved. One should not make such comments without thinking seriously on it first,” he said.
The fitness freaks also did not buy the idea. “Making senseless statements seems to have become the habit of the state government these days. Creating parking spaces inside the parks will just increase pollution level in the parks. A park is a place where people go to intake fresh air and not smoke,” Abhilash Kumar, a regular morning walker, said.
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