While the ‘Rail is in Jail’, the Newly Launched ‘Gym is in Slim’ State at Kadri Park?
Mangaluru: For a while, the Kadri Park looked so good and everyone liked the facilities provided for the morning & evening walkers, and even for children to enjoy playing and having fun in the Park. But lately things have not gone in the right path, and citizens using the park are not happy with the maintenance taken care by the concerned authorities. If you look at the recently opened Gym at the park is already in a bad shape, with many of the Gym equipment either missing the parts and not working properly; even the Kids train which was operating a few weeks ago is locked up in the JAIL?- and if you walk around in the exterior back of the Park, you’ll notice young potted plants which are dry and dead, showing clear negligence of the workers and park officials.
But do they care- I bet they won’t, because the amount spent all these new facilities at Kadri Park is taxpayers hard earned money, and the authorities give a damn if everything else goes on well or not at the Park. Regarding the children’s train which started operating at the Kadri Park in 1979, where Bal Bhavan Society operated it till 1983. The train was operated by private parties between 1984 and April 2013 with frequent disruptions owing to problems with the engine. The operation of the children’s train stopped completely in April 2013. On the request of the district administration, the Southern Railway assessed the train and certified that was not fit for operation. The district administration has floated tender for disposal of the old train engine and the two bogies.
The district administration again took up the work of having a new train and track at a cost of Rs 1.09 crore, and the Department of Women and Child Welfare had also granted Rs 80 lakh. And after few months and years the train was back again running a few weeks ago, and as of today its back into the cell, locked like it’s in a prison. The reason behind this is that the engine has started giving trouble again, that’s one reason from one source. The other reason is that there has been an objection since the tracks are laid on concrete which is bad for train wheels traction, said yet another person. But when Team Mangalorean contacted Er Rajdendra Khalbavi who was in charge of the project, he clarified that in modern technology just like the metro trains run on tracks laid over concrete similar concept was used here too, so there is nothing wrong done here- its all the rumours people spread.
Sources reveal that long back the children train movement was stopped since the Forest department had raised an objection for trimming down a couple of trees on the path of the rail track (see pics of the chopped trees). It’s funny that Forest dept raises its voices when such simple things are done, but they are are not worried about hundreds of planted trees drying and dead due to no water and care taken- I guess that’s okay with them. Bah humbug! And at one place near the rail track is a sign which reads “DON’T HARM PLANT WEALTH”- and right in front of it you’ll notice a bunch of chopped tree branches- funny but its true (See Pics). At the moment, instead of the train running on the track, you can see walkers freely using the rail tracks for their pleasant walk (see pics). So, unfortunately, for the children who were having so much fun during their summer holidays, taking a joy ride on this train, have to cross their fingers and wait until they or their parents receive the good news that the train is ready to chug again. Until then, kids play the Choo choo train at home?
And now coming to the recently launched Gym at Kadri Park, inaugurated on 1 March 2019 by Member of Parliament (MP) Nalin Kumar Kateel, along with MCC Mayor Bhasker K, MLA Vedvyas Kamath, and MCC Corporators at a cost of nearly Rs 31 lakhs, is showing signs of negligence by the concerned authorities, since quite a few of the 22 exercise equipment like the ‘Arm & Shoulder Wheel’, ‘Stairs Stepper’, ‘Standing Twister Triple’, ‘Chest Press & Lat Pull’, ‘Rowing Station’, ‘Cycle’ from Vinex, and many more, are losing the parts, missing pedals etc. And this is all because of not having a person to manage and instruct the people how to use the equipment.
The other reason is that allowing children to use this gym equipment, even though there is a beautiful children’s play area nearby. Rough use of this equipment even by the adults have resulted in some of the equipment breaking down. On an inaugural day, I had mentioned to pro-cyclist Donny Menezes and his wife, who were using the equipment, that within couple of months you’ll see a few broken pieces of equipment, if at all no care or supervision is lacking- and this morning I called Donny and reminded him what I said, and he had his last laugh and agreed with me. And Donny said, “What a waste of taxpayers money on a brand new project, without having maintenance or a supervisor to take care of the Gym. I have seen children jumping on some of the expensive equipment like they are toys. But you can’t blame the kids when there is no one to advise or stop them. It’s sad to see that a few of the equipment have already broken within two months”.
Well said by Donny- If they had spent nearly Rs 31 lakhs on the project, why couldn’t they appoint a maintenance guy or a supervisor to manage the gym area. Absolutely doesn’t make sense at all, having a gym without an instructor or a supervisor or maintenance personnel. In the meantime, H R Naik, the Deputy Director of Horticulture Department speaking to media had said that the Gym was still under the contract of the company which installed all the equipment for a year, after which the Horticulture dept takes over. “At the moment our department lacks funds to maintain the Gym, so we are seeing all this mess now. In order to raise funds to maintain the cost of operating the Gym, the train and other facilities at the Park, we may decide on charging an entry fee to use the park and other facilities” had said, Naik.
In conclusion, here we have yet another masterpiece of government project which flunked within a couple of months, and thereby washing down taxpayers money down the drain- oh well! Whom to complain- and even if you complain to the top guys in the department, they are much more irresponsible than the people below them- and that’s INCREDIBLE INDIA!