Poor maintenance of historic Bhujanga Park irks visitors

Bhujanga Park, the only available exclusive park for children to play and for elders to soak in some fresh air is now prone to illegal activities owing to a sheer lack of proper maintenance.

The six-and-a-half acre park which had been the historic place for Mahatma Gandhi to deliver his speech on February 25, 1934, is now in shambles. The park is today notorious only for unethical activities and public especially women, fear venturing here after dusk.

Vignesh Hedge who comes every day to take a walk early in the morning and sometimes in the evening told DH that the park is now being used for littering and has become a place for open defecation. Many children come here to play but the municipality is least bothered about the hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation, he says.

The pathetic state of affairs, has badly affected the park's developmental activities leaving it strewn with garbage and people misusing it for urinating in the open. Sulochana Shet, a regular at the park, said that, "We fear going near the toilet area as it emanates stench and is surely a hub for diseases to spread."

CMC Commissioner Manjunthaiah said that the main reason for all the irregularities taking place inside the park is due to lack of a proper compound wall. A sum of Rs 25 lakh has already been spent on building one side of the wall but lack of funds has hampered further development works, he said. The construction work for the second phase compound wall would be taken up after Rs 39 lakh is released, he said. The amount would be spent on building the remaining parts of the wall but the funds would be insufficient to complete the work, he said. The two sides of the lawn are also in a dilapidated condition. The lawn also needs to be renovated. The entire compound wall is possible only when the funds are released, he added.

He said plans are also underway to introduce a small canteen which would provide visitors with better snacks and soft drinks. He added that all security related measures would be taken up in the park and the park would be made safe so that public can relax even till 9 pm. Once the compound wall is perfectly fine, all measures would be introduced to ensure safety and cleanliness concerns, he said.

Regulars at the park stated that some people who reside nearby do not have toilets and live in slums. They come and use the park for defecation. "One comes across human waste everywhere. It has become an open defecation area for people in the neighbourhood," adds Bhavana, a college student who wishes the park would have been exclusively kept for the public to relax. The park is also home for destitutes who often keep their luggage, she rued.