Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid :
The prolonged negligence of the authority has made the city’s Panthokunjo Park a safe haven for drug addicts, drug dealers, muggers, petty criminals, and prostitutes.
Now the green park situated at the intersection of SAARC Fountain has become inaccessible to the people. They said park is famous for walking, jogging and recreational purposes amid the din and bustle of the city life.
The triangle-shaped park, just the opposite of the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, is now a dumping ground and an open place for defecation and urination throughout the day for which the passers-by cannot walk by the park area due to the unbearable stink.
With the setting of the sun, the park goes under the control of snatchers and a large pool of prostitutes dressed in garish colors and thickly-layered cosmetics stand by the busy road to prey their targets.
The old and young people now cannot enter Panthokunjo which has become a jungle full of big holes here and there and a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and other insects and reptiles.
The locals and the passers-by blamed the concerned authorities for the squalid condition of the park for over four years.
They also say that the anti-social activities before a posh hotel also tarnish the image of the country before the foreigners. The locals alleged that Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is responsible for their negligence because they undertook a project of beautification over four years ago without any progress.
DSCC sources said that a project was undertaken in 2018 with a budget of around Tk 19.20 crore but the elevated expressway project has hindered it. Now it is uncertain when the work will restart.
Till then, the locals and the passers-by will have to bear the stench of faeces and turn their faces from the unsocial activities.
“It has become unbearable for us to breathe for defection and dumping garbage in the park. We cross the area by covering our noses,” Majharul Islam, a passer-by told the New Nation on Thursday.
A 60-year old Rashedul Haque said, “Earlier I used to come here for morning walks under the canopy of green trees. But now there is no environment.”
“My office is at Bangla Motor and I live in Kanthalbagan. So I walk to office. On my returning home in the evening, I feel embarrassed to see the harlots standing on the same road beside the park. And I face this every day,” Zakia Sultan said.
Sharing his friend’s experience Rabuil Islam said, “One day my friend was travelling by a bus. He was sitting beside the window and talking over his cell phone. But suddenly a snatcher snatched his mobile phone and disappeared into the dark park.”
Police said that they get reports of muggings and snatching regularly in the area, but it becomes difficult for them sometimes to prevent such incidents as the dilapidated park does not have security personnel and lights.
The locals and the passers-by feel the necessity of the green park for pure air and respite amid the sprawling city which is rapidly losing its green spaces.
The Panthokunjo Park is the heart of the locals, but it is plagued by unwelcoming environment, they rued.
But this issue did not evade the sights of the concerned authority as they also feel the need of the park for the city dwellers.
In a programme in July, DSCC Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh also raised his voice for the renovation of the Panthokunjo Park as soon as possible.
The park cannot stand lying in this position for years in the name of any project, he added.
On the contrary, the green environmentalists said that the burgeoning Dhaka city is becoming a desert of concretes as the green places especially the existing parks are in a moribund condition.
Mentioning the recent incident of occupying the Kalabagan Playground for the construction of the Police Station, they questioned why they need to raise their voices every time to save the playgrounds and parks.
The concerned authorities should also ponder over the matter that they are also part of the city, they added.
