Amenities in tatters, Janeshwar Mishra Park no more a walkers’ delight

Lucknow: Prashant Kumar’s grandmother has been cutting short her morning walks at Janeshwar Mishra Park in Gomtinagar for nearly a month now. It’s not because of her ill health but the crumbling state of affairs at the park. As a ritual, she would often conclude her walk with a short meditation. But the benches she would sit on had been missing for a while.Kumar’s grandmother’s case is not an anomaly. It, rather, encapsulates the agony faced by scores of morning walkers who frequent the park and complain about the sheer neglect of its upkeep. “My grandmother takes a couple of rounds and then likes to sit for a while in fresh air. In winter, she would even come in the afternoon to sunbathe. But the benches near the lake have been missing. And the area that has some benches is too far away for her,” Kumar noted. Run by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), the facilities in the park are in tatters. Barring a few metal benches, the wooden ones are broken, and in many places even missing. This is despite repeated directions by divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob to give a facelift to the park by the end of December. Morning-evening walkers have expressed their disappointment over inadequate upkeep. While visitors have been complaining about creaking benches for a while now, the fact they have been uprooted without any replacement has left visitors perplexed. “We had been complaining about broken benches, especially near the open gym area and the lake. Instead of replacing them, they have disappeared altogether,” said another frequent visitor, Tarun Singh. Not just the benches, but other amenities, too, are in tatters. The jogging track is broken in places, visitors complained. Besides, the stinking lavatories are not only a put-off but also pose health hazards. Commenting on the issue, Jacob told TOI: “I have taken up the issue with the LDA and directed them to fix the lapses at the earliest.” The managing committee of the park, meanwhile, claims that the broken benches will be replaced soon. And the ones that have been uprooted will find their way to the ‘UP Darshan Park’, a waste-to-wonder initiative by the LDA.“We have floated the tender, and it is in the process of getting finalized. New benches will be installed soon,” said Sanjay Jindal, head of the management committee tasked with the upkeep of the park.

HCs tax bench aims to dispose of 1,000 cases

Two judges of the Madras high court handling tax portfolio have set a target to dispose of 1,000 cases by publishing an advance cause list. The list includes issues such as maintainability of appeal under Central Excise Act, levy of Service Tax on copyrights, seigniorage charges under the GST Act on royalty matters, notice under Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act levying tax at 14.5% in respect of branded food, levy of demurrage and detention charges in respect of imported goods, levy of luxury tax on timeshare members of holiday resorts/clubs, and clearance of used digital and multi-functioning devices for BIS Act compliance.

GIFT City to have aqua park, underwater aquarium

GIFT City in Ahmedabad is set to have an aqua park, underwater aquarium, water sports facilities, theme park, gaming arcade, art galleries, theatres, and performance spaces. The entertainment and recreational zone will also include a GIFT Eye Ferris wheel and a multilevel car parking zone. The development of the Sabarmati riverfront will provide additional water sports facilities. The project aims to create a vibrant urban lifestyle with green spaces and a leisure zone. The socio-cultural infrastructure will make the city more liveable.