A cherished green area in Block C, Sushant Lok I, may soon give way to a dispensary, if the developer is to have its way.
Ansal API, which developed the park, claimed that the site had been earmarked for a dispensary in the layout plan.
However, residents have not taken this decision lying down. Rallying together to save the park that their children play in and the elderly use for their daily walks, they held a two-hour protest protest rally early on Sunday to create awareness of the issue. They said they would hold bigger rallies in future if the plans for the consturction of a dispensary at the site did not stop.
“The developer wants to hand over this 1.2-acre park only for commercial gain. The area has so many multispeciality hospitals, why do we need another? So many trees will be cut if this project takes place. Our children will lose their playground and adults their jogging and walking tracks,” said Sudhir Sachdeva, a resident and an activist who has been leading the fight to save the park.
“There’s Fortis, Max, Paras, Artemis, Uma Sanjeevani and Umkal hospitals near the area. There’s also a dispensary just 200 m from the park! There is simply no need for another such facility,” said Arun Kakkar, a resident, supporting Sachdeva’s views.
The protest on Sunday was held after officials of the Ansal group started bringing down the park’s boundary walls with a bulldozer.
“The district court has granted us an interim stay. The developer cannot carry out any activity in the park till February 23, the next date of hearing,” said Sachdeva, adding that residents have been using this park for years for play and fitness.
Sushil Ansal, chairman of Ansal API, said, “The land in question has been earmarked for a dispensary site in the colony’s layout plan. The court has ordered status quo and set the next hearing for Friday.”
The struggle to save the park goes back to 2004, when one fine day residents found boards put up near the park saying that the site had been earmarked for a dispensary. They moved local court that very year, but in April 2005, residents were further shocked when bulldozers arrived at the park to uproot structures and dig up the area.
“Of course we put up resistance, as we want the park to be retained,” said AK Nagpal, president of the Sushant Lok 1 RWA.
The matter is still pending in local court.
