Parks are crucial to the healthy development of residents in the city and vital to the welfare of the local community. Having green spaces must be a key consideration in urban planning if the health of a city and its people are considered important.
Perhaps with this intention the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) developed two such green space including ‘Municipal Park’ and ‘Children’s park’ in the heart of the city several years ago. Ironically, what started with a bang has now ended in a whimper, with the MMC not initiating adequate steps to maintain the parks, the condition of which have gone from bad to worse.
Today, green spaces in Vasco town are more neglected than ever before. The gardens which act as green havens for the citizens during the day, turns into a dark, desolate place during the night, providing ample opportunities for anti social elements to misuse the facility.
Citizens who frequent the gardens in the evening claimed that little was done for the upkeep of the garden. “There are many lamp poles inside the garden but they are hardly functional and many a time anti-social elements can be seen playing cards, drinking liquor, throwing liquor bottles everywhere. The presence of these elements keeps families away from the garden,” Sandeep Patel, a local from Vasco said.
The only lights that can be seen are near the entrance and few other places, while major areas of the garden remain in dark during night. This condition has been prevailing for several months now.
Though it is the statutory duty of Mormugao Municipality to restore these gardens, nothing concrete has been done so far and gardens are often left neglected, perhaps reflecting that parks are no longer a high-priority list for this council.
“A local park can host a network of social activities and strengthen a sense of community and civic pride. It could be also a potential tourist attraction, but despite having such facilities the council has hardly tapped these assets. This only shows that MMC is not serious about the city’s open spaces, “ social activists Preetam Keluskar said.
He requested the authorities to take action in maintaining these gardens, for the safety and well-being of children and families visiting the garden.
Vasco city Councillor Krishna Salkar too is unhappy with the way MMC has been neglecting these parks and gardens in the city.
“I am not at all happy with the way MMC has been maintaining Municipal Park and Children’s park in the city. It is true that anti-social elements misuse the garden and to keep them away MMC had deployed a security guard but they don’t listen to guard and often threaten him. We have now taken a decision to employ private security guard to keep anti-social elements away,” he said.
With regards to illumination, I don’t know why MMC is not using its workforce to restore the same. We have got electrician and other staffs for such works. I will take up the issue again with Chief Officer so that our gardens becomes more attractive and public friendly, even during night time, he added.
MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik also assured to take up the issue on priority. In fact, we have already planned to take up necessary infrastructural works at the parks and gardens. I will soon consult councillors to check if we can appoint a contractor to maintain the garden or to deploy more staff to maintain these green spaces, he said.
