With Stray Dogs Roaming ‘Kadri Park’, name it as ‘Kadri Bark’? A Breeding Place for Mosquitoes Also
Mangaluru : The first thing when you get out of your vehicles and enter into the gate of Kadri Park, you’ll be greeted by the BARKING of bunch of stray dogs, in and around the Park- which has created a nuisance to the morning and evening walkers and also the visitors that come to the Park- and even though few complaints have been made to the concerned authorities, no action has been taken, according to a few people who make use of the park for various leisure reasons.
For a while the Kadri Park looked so good and everyone liked the facilities provided for the morning and 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. The newly opened Gym at the park within a few weeks resulted in a bad shape, with many of the Gym equipment either missing the parts and not working properly, but after complaints the problem has been rectified. Even the Kids “RAIL” which was operating 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.
Apart from that if you walk around the Park, you’ll notice water stranded in about 90% of the park, and some places you see stagnant water giving scope for breeding of mosquitoes, leading to vector-borne diseases like Dengue, and Malaria. While the officials of District Administration and Mangaluru City Corporation are going around spreading the awareness of these diseases and also warning people to keep their surroundings clean., and not to let water to accumulate/strand which will breed larvae- and also they have been imposing huge penalties of builders and others for allowing stagnant water-but on the other hand these officials have turned a blind eye against the stranded water spots inside their own asset- the KADRI PARK?
A few minutes walk around these areas where water is stranded you’ll get bitten by mosquitoes, and it was my experience when I went around clicking a few photos of the pathetic condition of this present Kadri park. Mohammed Iqbal who was doing his exercise at the Park Gym speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “Look at all the water puddles around this gym. I have been bitten by mosquitoes every single day when I come here, even though I use all those mosquito repellents. It’s sad to note that the concerned authorities have totally neglected this beautiful park, thereby wasting all the money spent on it. The Park is on the same situation like the Musical Park which is non-operative, after spending few lacks. No one cares, after all it is tax payers money that they are utilizing and wasting it”.
Also the walking track around Gangana Palla ( a small pond) inside the Park has not only become slippery but also has obstructions in the form of fallen trees and bamboo poles dissuading people from taking a stroll around the pond. The walking track developed around the now fenced Pond on the eastern corner of the Park has become too slippery even as no efforts were seen to keep the track walkable. Due to fallen tree branches and bamboo groves block the walking path following which none takes a stroll around the pond that has got a beautiful pedestrian bridge. Sadly, Kadri Park, the only large open space inside the City, continues to be in a state of neglect with slippery and water-logged walking tracks, stray dog menace and dilapidated children play equipment demonstrating sheer lack of regular maintenance.
And even the play area for children has water puddles, and thus no children are seen using the play area. The seating areas are surrounded with stranded water, thus making it non-usable. Added to this misery, the walkers are also facing the nuisance from the stray dogs, which bark and even follow while walking. A 59-years-old lady using the park for her daily morning walk speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “The stray dog menace is increasing day by day. Not that I am against dogs, because I do have dogs, but when it comes to stray dogs you have to be careful, because some of them could be dangerous. After the increase of stray dogs at the Park, two of my friends whom used to join me during the walk have stopped coming due to fear of these dogs. My couple of complaints in this regard has not proven any results. Guess they are waiting for someone to get bitten by one of these dogs, and then only take action”.
Funny thing is that few months ago, when I had taken my two small Daschund breed dogs for a walk on leash, I was stopped by a Park staff saying that pets are not allowed as per the orders given to me. Wow- and now you are looking at stray dogs freely roaming around, unleashed with no masters to handle them- and that’s okay with the park authorities. Bah humbug? What a society are we living in a Smart City with No Smart People at the helm of it. You could also see dog poop here and there- and if you not lucky your feet may step on it while taking a walk.
Sources reveal that while the Park belongs to Horticulture Department, the Mangaluru City Corporation and the Mangaluru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) too are the stakeholders in its development, and it is due to the complete lack of coordination between these agencies is the reason for its poor maintenance, and the walkers and visitors have to face the brunt of it. It is also learnt that the Deer Park and musical fountain right across from the Kadri Park, developed by MUDA at Rs 5 crore is non-operational as operators had only one theme for music.
As per sources, according to H.R. Nayak, Deputy Director of Horticulture Department speaking to a reporter of a Daily Newspaper had said that the obstructions around Gangana Palla (Pond) would immediately be cleared while basic maintenance works would also be undertaken. Stating that the department does not provide funds to maintain additional facilities, Nayak had said that the corporation and MUDA have to contribute for the maintenance of open gym and other facilities. Lamenting public apathy, Nayak had also said many plants planted by the department recently were taken away by the public. Fibre equipment would be installed in the children play area shortly, he said adding he would intimate the corporation about stray dog menace. Well said by Nayak- but one has to believe only when it is taken care and materialized.
Like in 2017, after quite a few complaints lodged by the daily walkers who make use of the park for their morning and evening walk, and also from other visitors who visit the beautiful and largest park in the City-the Kadri Park, the Officials of the The Horticulture Department, which manages the Kadri Park, had assured to install CCTV cameras on all prominent corners and footpaths inside this Park. Vijaya Bank and Karnataka Bank had come forward in allotting funds for the development of the park. S Janaki S- the Senior Assistant Director of the Horticulture Department during then, had assured about the installation of CCTV’s- but as of today, I didn’t see any CCTV’s at the Park, unless they are hidden from human sight??
Vidya Dinker, coordinator, Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development who had earlier raised her opinion during a meeting on the same issue at DC’s office, speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “Instead of installing CCTV’s everywhere in the Park, police should develop a good relation with the visitors of the park and keep vigil on the premises. A non-intrusive eye on part of the police is better than CCTV cameras in the park, where people arrive for privacy. Park is a place where young couples or married couples come to spend some intimate time surrounded by green nature. They may not like being captured on these CCTV’s, thereby reveal their identity”.
Assurance after assurances, promises after promises is all we could here now and then, but in reality nothing is materialized. Do the concerned authorities care- I bet they wont, because the amount spent all these new facilities at Kadri Park is tax payers hard earned money, and the authorities give a damn about it, to see if everything 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-then it stopped operating completely in April 2013. 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 few weeks ago, and as of today its back into the cell, locked like its in a prison. (see photo)
In conclusion, here we have our Kadri Park, which was few months ago before monsoons looking good, is now in shambles. Even the open-air stage is seen with grown grass, and PAGE is having their World Alzheimer’s Month’ kick-off tomorrow ( 31 August) on this stage. Guess, the stage will look all green with this wild grass, after all we are looking forward for a Clean and Green Mangaluru? Toilets are dirty, with white colour sinks turned brown? Seems like KADRI PARK- is yet another masterpiece of government project which is simply washing down tax payers 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 corrupt than the people below them- and that’s INCREDIBLE INDIA! INCREDIBLE MANGALURU!