CHANDIGARH: Located close to Kiran Theatre and Shastri Market, the
Nehru Park
in
Sector 22
A attracts hundreds of visitors, mostly shoppers, shopkeepers, college and school students among others regularly. However, at most times, people here pray for not wanting to attend nature’s call due to the absence of any washroom in the park.
The park, which is otherwise perfectly manicured with a lush green grass carpet, along with well-maintained hedges and swings, fails miserably to alleviate the pressure on bladders that visitors might feel during the day.
“Yes, the
park
has no washroom. It is huge in size, thus walking and jogging paths are also wide, but no bathroom. It’s strange, isn’t it?,” said Shilpa, a college student.
Several isolated spots around the left periphery of the wall in the park have become substitites for a washroom for large number of visitors throughout the day. This leaves the surroundings stinking and wet. “There is no
toilet
here. So, what is one supposed to do if he has to pee? Where shall we go?,” said an angry young man under the condition of anonymity. He was one among the many who paint the walls on the park’s edges.
Residents living around the park have complained about feeling the discomfort of finding the rear walls of their houses yellowed and wet with human
urine
. The stench is unbearable, they said and demanded an immediate redressal of the problem. “This is one of the oldest parks in the city. Was developed back in 1964 or even before that. At that time, this was just an open ground with not much interiors to it. This was refurbished to its current appearance some eight to 10 years ago now, but they forgot the toilet,” said Karan Singh, a senior citizen living nearby.
Some residents claimed to have offered their own bathrooms to the desperate visitors at the time of the nature’s summon. “My own bathroom has been used by many park-goers several times, because my house is the closest to the park,” said Rajendra Mohan Kashyap, a nearby resident.
The residents are thus demanding construction of a small toilet, by replacing the dumping ground right outside the park’s main entrance. However, when tried contacting the MC in this regard, no response could be obtained.