Thousands of people looking for fun, including women and children and especially on the third day of Eidul Adha, thronged to the recreational spots of the twin cities to celebrate. Almost every park in Rawalpindi and Islamabad received a huge number of visitors.
Picnic spots including Lake View Park, Daman-e-Koh, Pir Sohawa, Shakarparian, Ayub National Park, Nawaz Sharif Park and Jinnah Park were packed with visitors on all three days of Eidul Adha.
This year, three holidays were announced followed by the two weekly holidays of Saturday and Sunday, which provided a good opportunity for people to visit the said recreational spots. Having spent the first Eid day performing ritual of sacrificing animals and distributing meat to relatives and the needy, the citizens of Rawalpindi and Islamabad started to visit parks from Monday evening.
On the third day of Eid, crowds were also seen at Marghazar Zoo, Playland and Daman-e-Koh where a good number of visitors were seen enjoying Barbeques. Lake View Park is a popular spot on most Eid holidays. This year was no exception as the park, being equipped with modern facilities, witnessed hundreds of visitors on Wednesday, and seemed to be most popular amongst families with children.
Interestingly, despite the skyrocketing inflation, many people managed to make arrangements for their children to celebrate Eid joyously in parks.
“I used my savings to provide my kids with the opportunity to enjoy this Eid in this park… this trip will cost me around Rs 1,000 but I will happily bear it for the sake of my children’s happiness,” said Riaz Ahmed, who had brought his family to the Lake View Park from Bharakau. At the park, children were seen enjoying themselves, especially on the swings. Girls were also to be seen on the swings while children were screaming with joy on the merry-go-rounds and the adults seemed exuberant upon seeing the smiles on their children’s faces. Visitors were also seen taking pictures to capture the memorable time.
During a survey of various parks by Pakistan Today, visitors were seen complaining about the lack of facilities at the parks and the high prices of edibles items. They were also irritated at having to pay extra money for the parking facilities at most parks.
In addition, the lack of public transport created many problems for visitors in moving freely within the city during Eid holidays and taxicab drivers took advantage of the the absence of a system imposed by the authorities to fix fares and charged fares at will. They charged rates up to a 100 percent higher than the usual fares.
