MULTAN, Sept 13: Pevaiz Elahi Park which was once considered the beautiful park of the city is now littered with sewerage and rainwater, Dawn has learnt. The park named after the sitting Punjab chief minister is situated in Union Council-19. It bemoans of neglect by local authorities which have turned a deaf ear to general public’s complaints regarding environmental degradation in the park posing a serious health threat to the residents of Gulzaeb Colony, Ahmedabad, Keeri Jamandan and Mumtazabad. The locals once had been enjoying a pollution free atmosphere for exercise or meditation in the park for quite some time, but now all this has vanished and anyone would barely visit the park for refreshment.

Pervez Elahi Park’s beauty has been marred by a lack of proper maintenance, regular visitors say.

“I cannot walk along the park because of heaps of garbage scattered in and around it giving foul smell,” Asad Durrani, a Gulzeb Colony resident, told Dawn. He said he was a heart patient and had been advised walking by foot to keep himself fit. He lamented that the only space he and other residents had for this purpose was now in derelict state.

Shafiq Ahmed Babar, a retired schoolteacher, said he and his family used to visit the park for a walk but now they had stopped going there because of the accumulated sewerage water. He said flies and mosquitoes growing on stagnant water in the park were spreading diseases.

A Bahauddin Zakariya University student said he and his friends had stopped visiting the park because of the stink. A passer-by termed the park’s condition “deplorable”.

Dr Abdul Rehman, a resident of Mumtazabad, said insects and mosquitoes growing on stagnant water were spreading diseases especially malaria. He said children who ignorantly bathe in the filthy water were getting infected with skin diseases. He said contaminated water was also getting mixed with potable underground water, which could cause hepatitis.

Engineer Mushtaq Ansari, the Mumtazabad Town naib nazim and Union Council-19 nazim, said draining sewerage water from the park was in progress and the stagnant water would be flushed out completely within a week.