Children holidaying find park in a shambles

[1]

It is vacation time and parks are a favourite spot for children. But the Sub-hash Park at the centre of the city is in shambles.

The Kochi Corporation office lies a stone’s throw away, but the authorities have done little to ensure that playing equipment is in right shape for the children to have pleasant evenings.

“The park is spread over a vast area but most of the items have corroded. Portions of brick wall slides have come out and we have advised our students to be cautious.

We came here with great expe-ctations but were disappoi-nted,” said Selvaraj R, a te-acher in a group from Tam-il Nadu, on a tour to Kerala.

The small bridge set up for children too is in a dilapidated condition with the risk of children falling into the ground due to the slide position.

“In most other parks, the portion where the children lands from the equipment is filled with sand, so that children don’t get hurt. But here the ground is very rough,” says Durga K.S, a native of Pan-angad and mother of two.

Visitors also complain that half the lamps in the park are not working, not to say anything about the broken benches. The location may be eye-catchy but the stench of the canal on one side and polluted backwaters nearby are driving away visitors.

A Town Planning official said the corporation will implement a renovation pr-oject soon to make the park attractive.

“All these probl-ems will be solved then. It will be reconstructed on a PPP-basis and is expected to be completed by December,” he said.