Residents here have opposed the state Government’s plan to merge two historic parks into one by closing down a portion of a road that has historical importance too. Some NGOs have urged the state Government to abandon the plan in the interest of the city’s heritage as well as traffic-related problems.Leading the campaign is an NGO, Save Guwahati, Build Guwahati. President of the organisation, Dhiren Baruah, has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi urging him to scrap the plan. “The two parks — Judges’ Field and Church Field — have their own unique identities and heritage. The road that divides them is part of Lakshminath Bezbaruah Road, which was constructed way back in 1926 when the British set up their administrative headquarters at Guwahati,” Baruah has said in his memorandum.On the other hand, Guwahati Development Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma has said that the merger of the two parks is aimed at setting up a bigger open space for the residents, where they would be able to spend more time with nature. “Guwahati has very little open space. The two parks when merged would become the lungs of the city,” he said.The state Government had earlier refused permission for the use of Judges’ Field for book fairs after two powerful explosions occurred there in 2006 during the official celebrations of the Republic Day.
