RAWALPINDI: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) is focused on developing two parks, in the constituencies of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and former MNA Hanif Abbasi, leaving 46 parks in the city – including Liaquat Bagh – unattended.

In the current 2016-17 fiscal year, the Punjab government has released Rs20 million for the development of the Shahbaz Sharif Public Park on Rawal Road in NA-56 (where Imran Khan defeated Mr Abbasi) and Rs30 million for a public park in Dhoke Munshi, NA-52, the interior minister’s constituency.

The original cost of the Shahbaz Sharif Public Park is Rs87 million, of which the government has released Rs20 million for this fiscal year. The Dhoke Munshi park has an original cost of Rs160 million, of which the remaining Rs130 million will be released in the next fiscal year.

Liaquat Bagh, Shamsabad Public Park and 46 smaller parks left unattended

However, two main parks in the garrison city – Liaquat Bagh and Shamsabad Public Park – as well as 46 smaller parks in the residential colonies of the inner city have been left unattended.

A senior PHA official told Dawn the authority had limited funds to improve parks in the city areas, but did its best to improve their condition by removing unwanted grass and so on.

He said the authority needed significant funding to construct boundary walls for the 46 parks, and plant flowerbeds in those areas. He said parks in some residential areas, such as Dhoke Hassu, were still in bad condition because the authority did not have the funds for improvement work.

He said the provincial government had sought details on parks that needed attention, but political leaders had pressed the government to launch new projects for parks in the two constituencies where the party needed people’s attention.

He said since then, the PHA has started work to improve the city’s main squares using donations from organisations. “Fawara Chowk in Raja Bazaar will be constructed from donations from Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL) and in return, the semi-government organisation will install its advertisement,” he said.

He said this fiscal year the PHA has not been allocated funds for the Women’s Park near the Rawalpindi Development Authority, which had been converted into a garbage transfer station. “The City District Government Rawalpindi will hand over the park to the PHA soon, but there was no plan for the park’s revival,” he said.

When contacted, PHA Director General Abid Malik confirmed that the government released funds for two new projects: Shahbaz Sharif park, and the park in Dhoke Munshi.

“We sent two new project proposals to the government, and it approved and released the funds. For other parks, work will be started soon,” he said.

He said the authority is working on a proposal to improve the condition of Liaquat Bagh, which it would soon send to the provincial government for approval. However, he added that the proposal would take time.

PTI MPA Arif Abbasi, whose constituency stretches from Committee Chowk to the Chah Sultan area, said the opposition members’ constituencies had been ignored in the PML-N led government’s development plan.

“There are over four parks in my constituency, but their condition is so pathetic that people avoid visiting. On rainy days, water accumulates in the park – especially in Milat Colony – and the grounds are only used to offer funeral prayers for local residents,” he said.

He said the PML-N was utilising funds for unnecessary things, adding: “Instead of improving the condition of existing parks, it is making new parks to install nameplates of their ruling elites.”

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2016