A view of Dhaka’s Gulistan Park Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneResidents of Baily Road, Ramna, Shantinagar and adjacent areas still frequent Ramna Park in the morning and afternoon, but have reasonable grounds to dislike the park.
The lack of toilet facilities is a major annoyance. The public display of affection by amorous couples frequently makes people feel uncomfortable, and often discourage many from bringing their family members along.
Afrin, a Poribagh resident, feels uneasy about visiting Ramna Park with anyone.
“My son wants to play outside, but I feel squeamish about letting him go to Ramna Park,” said Morium Akter, a resident of Malibagh.
Gulistan’s Shaheed Motiur Rahman Park is reportedly under the sinister control of local influentials who collect tolls from mobile vendors and fruit-sellers.
In addition, the Jatiya Sramik League has a makeshift office inside the park, which is a favorite haunt for drug abusers. What allows for all these infractions of civil regulations? No security personnel are ever around after dark.
Ali Hossain, a shopkeeper in Gulistan, said most people avoid taking shortcuts through the park after evening because of security concerns.
Abdul Khalek, a local businessman, said: “When evening falls, sex workers emerge. They accost anyone who happens to pass through the park.”
Many people believe the government’s rehabilitation of Hatirjheel is an amazing initiative and has proven to be a breath of relief for residents of Dhaka. But as unplanned quayside restaurants pop up, it does little to improve the scenery. But one Hatirjheel does not salvage every other park.Pedestrians turn up their nose at the stench emanating from Nayatola Park when they cross the street from Nayatola to Moghbazar.
This is the case for those who regularly use the street. The problem started last year, after the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) took over a third of the park, and built a landfill inside.
The DSCC authorities also park garbage trucks outside the park, the only source of “fresh air” for residents of Nayatola, Wireless Colony and Moghbazar.
“Once we relaxed by playing, sitting or just hanging out in the park, but it is nothing more than a garbage heap today. Neither we, nor our children, visit the park these days,” said Munir Hossain, who resides right beside the park.
According to locals, there are several influential people in the neighbourhood who use the park to store construction material, an act which is not condemned by the authorities.
Most parks under DSCC jurisdiction are a travesty, mainly due to years of mismanagement and negligence of the authorities concerned. There are 27 parks in the DSCC territory.
During a recent visit to a number of parks, the Dhaka Tribune discovered that most of them were either littered with garbage, or occupied illegally, which made visitors feel unsafe.
Exhausted by the continued mismanagement over the years, city residents who once frequented the parks are less than eager to visit them.
Arifur Rahman Arif, a 13-year old living in Nayatola, said they used to play mini-cricket (a form of cricket developed by Bangladeshi boys which is played in confined space), but now there is no such scope.
“People once loved to jog in the park, but nowadays, almost nobody visits,” Arif said.
A number of concerned parents living in Malibagh, Kakrail, Shantinagar, Badda and Gulistan, said they do not visit the nearby parks and forbid their children from doing so as well.
But the parents demand that the authorities recover the parks and restore them to their former verdant glory.
A view of Dhaka’s Gulistan Park Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneResidents of Baily Road, Ramna, Shantinagar and adjacent areas still frequent Ramna Park in the morning and afternoon, but have reasonable grounds to dislike the park.
The lack of toilet facilities is a major annoyance. The public display of affection by amorous couples frequently makes people feel uncomfortable, and often discourage many from bringing their family members along.
Afrin, a Poribagh resident, feels uneasy about visiting Ramna Park with anyone.
“My son wants to play outside, but I feel squeamish about letting him go to Ramna Park,” said Morium Akter, a resident of Malibagh.
Gulistan’s Shaheed Motiur Rahman Park is reportedly under the sinister control of local influentials who collect tolls from mobile vendors and fruit-sellers.
In addition, the Jatiya Sramik League has a makeshift office inside the park, which is a favorite haunt for drug abusers. What allows for all these infractions of civil regulations? No security personnel are ever around after dark.
Ali Hossain, a shopkeeper in Gulistan, said most people avoid taking shortcuts through the park after evening because of security concerns.
Abdul Khalek, a local businessman, said: “When evening falls, sex workers emerge. They accost anyone who happens to pass through the park.”
Many people believe the government’s rehabilitation of Hatirjheel is an amazing initiative and has proven to be a breath of relief for residents of Dhaka. But as unplanned quayside restaurants pop up, it does little to improve the scenery. But one Hatirjheel does not salvage every other park.
A view of Dhaka’s Gulistan Park Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneResidents of Baily Road, Ramna, Shantinagar and adjacent areas still frequent Ramna Park in the morning and afternoon, but have reasonable grounds to dislike the park.
The lack of toilet facilities is a major annoyance. The public display of affection by amorous couples frequently makes people feel uncomfortable, and often discourage many from bringing their family members along.
Afrin, a Poribagh resident, feels uneasy about visiting Ramna Park with anyone.
“My son wants to play outside, but I feel squeamish about letting him go to Ramna Park,” said Morium Akter, a resident of Malibagh.
Gulistan’s Shaheed Motiur Rahman Park is reportedly under the sinister control of local influentials who collect tolls from mobile vendors and fruit-sellers.
In addition, the Jatiya Sramik League has a makeshift office inside the park, which is a favorite haunt for drug abusers. What allows for all these infractions of civil regulations? No security personnel are ever around after dark.
Ali Hossain, a shopkeeper in Gulistan, said most people avoid taking shortcuts through the park after evening because of security concerns.
Abdul Khalek, a local businessman, said: “When evening falls, sex workers emerge. They accost anyone who happens to pass through the park.”
Many people believe the government’s rehabilitation of Hatirjheel is an amazing initiative and has proven to be a breath of relief for residents of Dhaka. But as unplanned quayside restaurants pop up, it does little to improve the scenery. But one Hatirjheel does not salvage every other park.