Srinagar, Sep 15: Scores of morning walkers on Friday protested against closure of Badamwari Park in Downtown here for them.
They alleged that authorities have closed gates, particularly for them, and deprived them of morning walk in the park.
The aggrieved, who live in the vicinity, said that in the morning they were told that the park is closed. They said they used to come there daily for a few hours for walking and running, but now the park is closed for them.
A video of the issue surfaced on social media in which aggrieved persons were seen resenting the move and urging authorities to open the park for them.
“We only come here for morning walk for health reasons. We don’t come here to create any nuisance. It is unfortunate that the park has been closed for us. If the authorities think that the park is being vandalised by visitors, then they should press more men to ensure the safety. Most of the visitors here are elderly who come to benefit from morning exercise and jogging. We are not in the age that we will create some problem here, and we only come for an hour or so,” said a local.
They alleged that during the day, the park is open for visitors while the local joggers and morning walkers are deprived of visiting it.
“This park has been outsourced for lakhs of rupees, and it should be ensured that it is maintained and enough employees are put in service to take care of it. Instead, we are kept from visiting it. We appeal to authorities to look into the matter,” said another aggrieved.
Inam-ul-Rehman, Assistant Floriculture Officer, City Parks, told Greater Kashmir that the joggers were asked to submit their names and then visit the park. “That is why they were not allowed. Park is not closed for anyone. We had only asked these morning visitors to submit their names so that we could know who was visiting the park. These people come in the wee hours and we only have two night watchers there. The area is vast. In such a scenario, we only wanted to ensure accountability. That is why they were asked for these details,” Rehman said.
