Shopian: The tourist park at Padpawan area on Mughal Road which was developed some three years ago by utilising a large chunk of forest land is now filled with plastic bags, food wastes, and dirt. The authorities seem to be not bothered about keeping the place clean and saving the forest area from pollution.
Yasir Ahmad, a concerned citizen who lives some three kilometers from the park, told Kashmir Reader that it was not a wise decision to develop a park on forest land, but now that it had been done it should have been maintained by the tourism department. He said that hundreds of pine trees are getting affected by the pollution caused by the park in their midst.
Rouf Ahmad, another local, said that recently on the eve of Eid, hundreds of local tourists visited the park and threw polythene and other wastes everywhere, despite there being some dustbins installed.
“The forest department hut has been damaged by unknown persons,” he added.
Locals said that as there is no one to guard the park, irresponsible people take their vehicles inside the park and damage the grass floor.
Sartaj Ahmad, an engineer with the Shopian Tourist Development Authority, told Kashmir Reader that the Shopian Municipal Committee cleans the park on a weekly basis.
“This tourist development authority was formed recently, so there is crunch of staff. Once the posts will be created we will take care of everything,” he said, while requesting visitors to behave like responsible citizens and not pollute the environment.