Workers renovate a pathway at the Robot Park at Saheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 7: A sudden pause in the development of three parks at Saheed Nagar is attributed to two reasons - the official one being the monsoon, while the unofficial version hints at 'issues' with the contractor assigned the job.
Whatever be the reasons behind the delay, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has finally resumed the job - that, however, missing the deadline by at least two months.
The Telegraph report published on July 14
The civic body had, in April, decided to develop the BDA-OMC Park, Robot Park and the Community Garden near Sparsh Hospital with smart facilities such as eco-friendly toilets, automatic water dispensing machines, Wi-Fi, open gyms, watch towers, butterfly parks, sensory gardens, basketball courts, skating rinks, splash parks and so on. It had also been decided to develop these three parks, which remain adjacent to each other, and name the area as the first 'Park District' of the city.
While the work on one park was supposed to end in June, October was the deadline for the other two. But, the work on them stopped in May. On July 14, The Telegraph reported about the stoppage of the work at the parks.
'We had been forced to stop the work because of rains. Now, we have put the developer on the job once again and asked them to deliver the results within the deadline. The parks will be ready for the public by the end of October as promised,' said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
However, citizens are reluctant to buy such statements. 'The civic body is busy making promises, but reality is something different. In May, there were no rain, but the work stopped just like that,' said Saheed Nagar resident Pritam Pal.
On the other hand, a corporation insider said there were some problems with the contractors, because of which the work had stopped at the parks. 'There were a few issues with the contractor. But, those have been resolved, and now the work has resumed. It will hopefully gets completed by October,' said the official on condition of anonymity.
Another local resident, Bandana Sethi, talked about the sorry state of the facilities, which, however, had been usable. She said that earlier people could at least use the parks for spending some leisure time in the evening hours. But, after the renovation work had started in them, it became difficult for the public to even enter the park.
'Paths were demolished for reconstruction, while the gates remain locked,' she said.
'I used to go there with my children in the evening. Now, the picture is different altogether. The walking path was demolished, sitting benches broken and grasses grown wild inviting serpents. Moreover, the gates remain closed for the work, which bared us to enter and use the park,' said Bandana, a homemaker.
