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Journalism of Courage
In focus
It is 7.30 am on Thursday. A woman sits on a rusty double chest press machine at an open-air gym, struggling to pull down the jammed handles. Sweat trickles down her face.
Nearby, a few boys play badminton while others perch precariously on broken benches. Walkers tread carefully, sidestepping piles of garbage. The plants are long dead, and the ground is blanketed in dust.
“When the park first opened, there were many swings, but no one bothered to repair them once they broke. There used to be a walking track too, now there’s not a single tile left,” says Shamsher Ali, in his 50s, who has been visiting the park for his morning strolls for 25 years.
He claims he has not seen a single gardener in the last year.
This is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s park in Pocket 11, Jasola Vihar, in Abu Fazal Enclave. But it’s far from an isolated case. Across Delhi, many public parks maintained by government bodies show similar signs of neglect — broken equipment at open-air gyms, garbage piled along boundary walls, damaged walking tracks, overgrown grass, and unpruned trees.
The MCD maintains 15,320 parks across its 12 zones, according to the last Standing Committee meeting, in the Capital.
According to the civic body, there are 6,433 sanctioned posts for gardeners in the horticulture department, but 71.5% of them remain vacant. Currently, 1,018 gardeners are employed on a permanent basis, and 812 work under the Welfare Measure scheme, which offers contractual appointments to the sons, daughters, or wives of deceased gardeners.
The horticulture department said it follows the CPWD manual, which prescribes 1 mali for 1.35 acres. The manual serves as a guidebook, providing a framework for planning and executing projects.
Abu Fazal Enclave ward councillor Ariba Khan says a shortage of gardeners in her area is making it difficult to maintain the parks. “This park was initially under the DDA but was later transferred to the MCD. However, there’s a lack of resources. If the corporation doesn’t fix the borewell, how are we supposed to plant trees — and who will maintain them? How can just a handful of gardeners set up a ladder, climb to do pruning, and also cut the grass in multiple parks at the same time?” she asks.
Not every park bears the same face of decay.
At Rajesh Pilot Memorial Park, in Gharoli ward, Shahdara, it’s not neglect but unchecked overgrowth that plagues the space. Tall grass has taken over nearly the entire park, with benches buried within it — some even obstructed by fallen trees.
Around 10-15 cows have become the park’s unofficial ‘maalis’, grazing on the grass one patch at a time. However, according to the MCD, cattle grazing is prohibited in public parks.
In one corner, several play installations stand — all broken. A seesaw is missing its seat, and the stationary cycle has a cracked metal one.
Tarun Anand (47), a resident of the area, claims no gardener has come for the last two years. “There have been instances where the elderly have fallen due to the broken pathways,” he says. Another resident adds that many people steal equipment at night and sell it.
Vinod Chaudhary (50), a supervisor overseeing 90 parks in the ward since January, says he has only seven gardeners to maintain them all. “Out of the seven, five are on contract, and their tenders keep expiring. How can I manage every park like this?” he says.
Chaudhary says there is an additional problem of a lack of equipment, as there is only one grass cutter machine available at present against the required three.
Kondli ward councillor Munesh Dedha, under whose ward the park falls, says, “I have 250 parks in my ward, but only 14-18 gardeners. I have spoken to the MCD Commissioner, he said will provide the funds.”
Around 18 km away, in Mahipalpur — part of the Najafgarh zone — is yet another neglected park. Narrow lanes branching off from the main road lead to a large ground, half of which is overrun with moss and tall grass, while the other half houses a barely functional open gym. A walking track is nowhere to be seen.
Square black mats, meant to serve as flooring in the gym area, are covered in dust — some are even submerged in water. At the centre of the park, tadpoles wriggle in a stagnant puddle.
Rani Gupta, seated on a bench just a few metres from the park’s entrance, gestures around and says, “Everything is damaged. Shouldn’t there be grass in a park? Every authority is just lazy — nobody wants to work.”
Hailing from UP’s Banaras, she has lived in the locality for the past 15 years and says the park has remained in the same dilapidated state ever since.
“Nobody comes here to inspect anything — repairs are out of the question,” says Manish Gupta, 45, a resident since 1991. “My mother doesn’t even walk here anymore because of the stray dogs inside.”
Inderjeet Sehrawat, Mahipalpur ward councillor, says the park comes under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), so he is not aware of the condition.
The DDA did not respond to queries seeking comment.
In Pandav Nagar, the park in J Block has seen a dip in visitors. Archana Sharma says, “I slipped here once because the walking track has come loose at several spots.” She now prefers the park in D Block for her morning walks.
The entrance is littered with garbage from nearby houses. Residents say the trees need pruning. A heavy branch fell a week ago and still lies in a corner, blocking part of the walking path.
For a group of elderly women who spend two hours here every day, the park holds a special nostalgia — it’s how they start their mornings. “We used to come here in winter to enjoy the morning sunlight, but now the trees have grown so tall that they block the light,” says Usha Devi, 65, a resident.
“When I first started coming, the park was beautifully maintained. Now, a sweeper comes only once a month, but even he just piles the garbage in a corner. Where is the money meant for maintaining the park going?”
Yashpal Singh, councillor of the Pandav Nagar ward, says there are seven parks in the ward, maintained by just two gardeners. “We are in the process of securing Rs 25 lakh from the MLA fund for construction and repair of walking tracks in the J Block park, and an additional Rs 25 lakh from the MP fund for overall park maintenance,” he says.
He adds that while the MCD’s work has been lacking, residents also need to refrain from dumping garbage in the parks.
In E Block of Preet Vihar, locals say they have been taking care of the colony park for 13 years. Pratibha Sharma, a resident, claims that no official from the MCD’s horticulture department has visited the park in the last 10 years.
“We’ve hired private gardeners to trim the grass and handle basic tasks, but only MCD staff can do pruning,” she adds.
Preet Vihar ward councillor, Ramesh Kumar Garg, could not be contacted for comment.
When contacted, an official from the MCD’s horticulture department says many gardeners have retired, leaving very few permanent staff. He adds that while the horticulture department allocates budgets for walking tracks, their construction is overseen by the engineering department.
The civic body also stated, “Light pruning is done regularly, but for heavy pruning, permission must be obtained from the forest department.”
Back at the Jasola park, the woman struggling with the chest press machine has given up. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she joins other walkers on the broken-tiled path. “Maybe they’ll clean it before August 15,” she says with a faint smile, “but after that, it will be the same again.”
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