Ghulam Ahmad Park is a large open recreational space in a low income area of Saddar Bazar, Lahore Cantt. It used to an effervescent hub of life where young people and children would play sports and families would come for walks and picnics.
That park is now a barren construction site. It is no longer a patch of green to come to when the residents of surrounding area need to escape the noise and pollution of the city. It is useless, concrete eyesore caught in legal purgatory – a symbol of the Lahore Cantt Board’s (LCB) disregard for the needs of the citizens and the environment.
A stay order has been initiated by civil court (Mr Mohsin Ali Khan, Civil Judge – Grade I) but LCB is continuing construction disregarding court’s orders. Amidst this legal confusion, the LCB authority moves quickly expediting construction.
While the justice of the courts moves sluggishly, the residents have lost their part. The courts must take note of this blatant disregard of law and must do so consistently and expediently.
ARSHAD CHOUDHRY
Lahore
