When the family does not use even a room in the house for some time, it turns into an unusable place. The case of Kasturchand Park is similar. The Kasturchand Park has been the place that hosted countless historic public rallies of personages such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr. Narendra Modi, Mr. Lal Krishna Advani; the place that hosted ‘Ravan Dahan’ for decades on end; the place that hosted cricket and football and hockey matches for decades, the place that hosted international sporting events; the place that hosted Army and NCC parades for decades, the place that hosted industrial fairs and national book exhibitions. Yet, today, the once-beautiful and vast ground is nothing but a shrub-land reeling under utter and criminal neglect. But the reason is not far to seek. The Kasturchand Park turned into the present mess because ‘we’ -- the city -- stopped making a good use of the place for reasons whose genesis at least the common people never understood.

 

The stated reason is that the Kasturchand Park is a heritage site and the beautifully-architectured monument in the middle is suffering damage because of the use of the ground for various activities. So, stop the use -- came the direction. So far so good, one must admit. But then, one does not understand why in the first and last place did not the authorities care for the Kasturchand Park ! For, is the monument in the middle in a top shape with so much of wild out-growth on the vast ground ? These two issues are good enough to expose the hollowness of the reasoning that led to stoppage of use of the Kasturchand Park. True, even today, the place can be used for a few officially stated occasions, all right (possibly 12 or so in a year). But then, what about the shocking spread of wild growth on the ground ? Is this neglect of the place officially allowed ? And, who is responsible for the upkeep of the historic ground ? We understand, it’s the Collector of Nagpur. And by the way, what about the undesirable activities that are still reportedly going on under the cover of darkness post evenings and deep into the nights at the great Kasturchand Park ? When the Kasturchand Park was hosting all activities previously, it was a clean, good place that looked so resplendent in the glory of its vast openness. Residents of Nagpur would take their out-station guests to show the Kasturchand Park with a sense of immense pride. Families found pleasure in spending evenings at the ground enjoying coolness and openness and cleanness. People also learned car or two-wheeler driving on the ground.

 

And all this usage never spoiled the place. But the moment the place came under a ban, it turned itself into the present condition. Who is responsible for this damage to the people’s sense of hurt due to the decadence that has descended upon this historic place for some time now ? ‘The Hitavada’ has often raised the issue of the upkeep of the Kasturchand Park on countless occasions. But all that coverage made little difference to the authorities that were supposed to have been in charge of the upkeep of the place. Now also, ‘The Hitavada’ assigned its photographer to bring in a few pictures showcasing the neglect of the Kasturchand Park because several readers made phone calls to the News Room urging some action. Yet, the officers of the Government or anybody even in the judiciary did not notice the bad state of the Kasturchand Park for long. Possibly, that is so because the system has developed a cancerous tendency not to worry about public utilities in an appropriate manner. We realise that somebody in the administration may say that the whole wild outgrowth can be cleaned up in no time and it will be done once the rainy season is over. Bah ! What hollowness ! - Editor