It's 7'O clock in the evening at the Jaipur Development Authority's Central Park. And it's nightmare for evening walkers.
The major part of the walking track is engulfed in darkness – just giving an indication that the state is still grappling with power crisis even when monsoon is at its best. Nightmare because Shraddha Joshi, 63, a regular evening walker twisted her ankle due to one of the numerous pot holes on the track created due to rains. Her fading vision coupled with absolute no visibility on track added to her misery.
She is not lone sufferer. Rakesh Bhardwaj, a retired engineer stumbled while walking just to lose her mobile phone which jumped out of his shirt's pocket. The ‘search operation' under the lights of mobile phones of co-walkers continued for 15 minutes when an athlete looking young man hit upon his phone finally.
This is not the story of a day. This has been the phenomenon of every day. The darkness in the park has grown with the greenery around – getting a shade deeper with every shower.
“We have been getting this complaints for some days. Maintenance work is going on. We are trying to rectify it,” said Vikram, the supervisor, who takes care of street lights in Central Park.
Girls and women walk at high risk in central park
The darkness in the Central Park is not causing injuries to walkers but also runs a risk of becoming a haven for anti social elements.
“I have seen some people boozing in the park. There is no security guard to check on activities of these anti social elements. JDA commissioner Manju Rajpal being a woman herself should feel it and take immediate action,” said Jyoti Sahni, a regular walker.
She feared that any untoward incident may also happen if proper illumination is not made in the park.
“Many girls and women visit Central Park alone. There are stretches where we walk alone in the company of darkness. There is no one around. The kind of atrocities happening against women, we really get scared. JDA should do something about it,” said Monica Verma.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
