The park at Bhat Road beach, which was constructed in a bid to beautify the area by spending Rs 2 crore, is now in a dilapidated condition due to the apathy of the authorities. The park, inaugurated two years ago with a swimming pool, hangout spots and a walkway, is a deserted place today.
The stagnant water in the swimming pool, with plastic and other wastes dumped in it, has become a breeding spot for mosquitoes. Many of the interlocking tiles paved in the park have come apart and are lying in heaps here and there along the pathway. Lamp posts have also started rusting and none of them has a bulb on it.
A Pradeepkumar MLA, who has initiated various tourism projects in the city, said, “`30 lakh was spent on wiring the area. But as the DTPC has not appointed any security guard, I instructed the concerned authorities to not install bulbs on the beach. Anti-social activities are bound to perk up in these areas if left unmonitored.” He went on to add that all the projects of DTPC are remaining stagnant as the secretary post has been lying vacant for over three months now. On contacting DTPC officials, it was learnt that the Harbour Engineering Department is yet to hand over the park to the DTPC. To which A Pradeepkumar MLA reacted, “The Harbour Engineering Department constructed the park for the DTPC as per their instruction. Now it is the duty of the DTPC to take it over from Harbour Engineering Department. It is not the other way around. Though the vacant secretary post is an excuse for them, they were taking things slow even when the post was not empty.”
DTPC authorities, however, explained that the interview for the post of the secretary had already been conducted and an appointment would be made at the earliest after which, all the delayed projects would be sped up.
They also claimed that they are getting countless calls to tender cafeteria but are unable to do so as the Harbour Engineering Department has not handed them over the park yet. Meanwhile, the Harbour Engineering officials are quite clueless about the current status of the park, as they too are in a fix with the posts of executive engineers lying vacant.
C P Saleem, councillor of the area, said, “The park was inaugurated towards the end of 2010. Since then, nothing much has been done to beautify the place. It is the responsibility of the DTPC to look after the area including cleaning it. Sometime back, we gathered a few residents near the area and cleaned the park. Moreover, the pools here are constructed in such a way that there is no opening for the water to flow out.”