A park named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Putki Balihari, around 8km from Dhanbad where the legendary freedom fighter spent a day apparently before embarking on his final journey abroad in 1941, is lying in a shambles, thanks to the apathy of local administration that has done very little for the upkeep of the memorial.
With the nation gearing up to celebrate the 119th birth anniversary of Netaji on Saturday, Gopal Prasad (63), a retired BCCL employee who mobilised local support for developing the park in the late 90s, has renewed efforts to revamp the park once again.
Prasad demanded that the 10-acre Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Smarak Udyan, which was created with Rs 12 lakh from BCCL, be developed as a national memorial.
Prasad, who did an extensive research on Netaji's association with Putki Balihari, said Netaji had spent a day at his nephew Ashok Bose's house on Dhanbad's outskirts in January 1941.
"During our interaction in 1997, Netaji's another nephew Shishir Bose told me that Netaji escaped with him from the house arrest on Elgin Road in Calcutta in disguise of a servant on January 16, 1941. They fled in a car and reached Shishir's elder brother Ashok Bose's residence bear Barari Coke in the morning of January 17," Prasad said.
Ashok, who worked as a chemist in Barari plant, used to live near a bungalow belonging to a British officer.
"Later, Netaji and Shishir left in two separate cars for Gomoh, where they boarded Kalka Mail and went to Pathankot on their way to Kabul," he added. "In 1980s, some old people helped me locate the bungalow, which BCCL was using to dump its sand."
In 1990s, with the help of senior BCCL officials, Prasad and local people developed the park, which boasted an artificial fountain, a Howrah model bridge, large number of flower plants, sea-saws, swings and slides.
However, over all these years, in the absence of proper maintenance, the park lost its sheen as well as relevance.
Pandey and his aides have urged BCCL to further develop the park and set up a museum on Netaji there.
