Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Residents across various parts of Bhopal, including the Old City and newer areas like MP Nagar, Gautam Nagar and Rachna Nagar are avoiding visits to public parks due to their deteriorating condition. Broken benches, damaged walking paths and a lack of maintenance have made these green spaces unappealing and unsafe for use.
A park in Ward No. 58, Rachna Nagar, is facing encroachment issues, with a hut and a kiosk occupying one of the park’s boundaries. This has resulted in removal of part of the boundary wall, allowing street animals easy access, raising concern about safety.
Residents expressed their disappointment over the poor state of the parks. S.N. Shrivastava, a resident, said, "We are disappointed with the current poor condition of parks near our residence. But we are forced to visit these poorly maintained parks for our daily walks."
Pappu Shukla, another resident of Ward No. 58, said, "We have raised our complaint many times, but the condition of parks keeps getting worse day by day."
BesidesRachna Nagar park, many other parks, such as Shahjaani Park and Manorama Park in the Old City, are also in a similar condition. Broken benches, uneven walking paths and outdated equipment have made these parks unattractive and unsafe for residents to use.
Mayor’s assurance
Rakesh Yadav, councillor of Ward 58, told Free Press that repair and reconstruction works are on, but due to frequent change of contractors, the work has been delayed.
Mayor Malti Rai said that major beautification projects under the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) suffered delay due to the corporation’s budget meeting. With the new financial year’s budget now approved, she assured that the pending work would be intensified to improve the state of public parks across the city.
