Mayawati’s park withers under BJP

The Chief Minister had to accept the recommendation of Governor Suraj Bhan that work be restarted on the park. However, the state government has little money for it.

The Kalyan government has sanctioned a paltry sum of about Rs 5 crore to restart construction work on the project whose cost had crossed a whopping Rs 100 crore due to the frequent changes made by Mayawati during her frequent inspections.

“The funds sanctioned by the government will be finished in making pending payments and we will be needing more money if construction of the now deteriorating park is to be started again,” said a senior official of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) which has been given theresponsibility to restart construction work.

Spread over several hundred acres in Gomti Nagar, Ambedkar Park has been reduced to a shadow of its former self owing to lack of maintenance since Mayawati’s ouster on September 21, 1997.

Had the blueprint of the park, which was prepared by Satish Gujral, been followed, it would have been unique for its architecture. But now even the portions which were constructed during Mayawati’s regime are decaying due to lack of funds.

The estimated cost of the park, which was initially a modest Rs 15 crore, escalated manifold because Mayawati evinced unusual interest in it. She had made it a point that the construction of the park be completed within her tenure so that it could also be a USP for her party to keep the Dalit base intact.

But soon after assuming power, Kalyan ordered a probe into the alleged misappropriation of government funds on the construction of the park. An inquiry found that most of the jobs were undertaken on Mayawati’s verbal orders and norecords were available for them. So, Kalyan stalled the construction work. Besides the financial burden on his government, the reason apparently was also that the credit for the park would have gone to Mayawati and not the BJP.