'I Visited Noida Park; Found Litter, Non-Functional Fountain, Broken Lights'

Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
Video Editor: Mohd. Irshad Alam

The Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Park is a famous and iconic park that was built by the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, in Noida. Spread across 82 acres, the park is not in the best of its conditions.

I recently visited the memorial park that has statues of Dr B R Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, and Mayawati. Before I could reach the hall where statues are placed, I was greeted with litter at several places.

Bits of trash were thrown all over the park. As far as I know, smoking is not allowed inside the park, yet cigarette wrappers could be found. A similar park that has been built in Lucknow is a lot more lively. In comparison to that, there are fewer people coming here.

Fountain Not Working

A very huge fountain is made inside the park compound, but it isn't working. The dirt inside shows that not much water is kept in the tank. In the middle, some of the parts seem to be broken. If the fountain would have been working, it would have looked really beautiful.

In Lucknow, there is a similar fountain that looks beautiful when water flows from it. There should have been similar arrangements here but they are not to be seen.

I enquired about the fountain why it wasn't working. The guard on duty asked me to write the issues in the complaint register as he wasn't willing to speak to me on camera.

Several Lights Were Non-Functional

When it started getting dark, not all lights were working. There were only a few light bulbs lit at the centre of the park and near the elephant statues. But none on either side of the park. Many light bulbs were broken too.

I spoke to one of the visitors at the park.

"We have come from Tilak Nagar to visit the park. In videos when we see it, it looks like a beautiful place but after coming here I realised it's dirty. There is no arrangement for drinking water. It gets very hot. A canteen over here would have been great. We have to go out to buy drinking water."

Ankit, Visitor

People generally enjoy these kinds of places, but the problem is that visitors are disappointed because of poor maintenance and lack of facilities like drinking water. Neither the fountain nor the lights are working properly and trash can be found in many places.

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