The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has recently constructed cement benches at the park in Sector-3 near Balaji Apartments in Dwarka. However, these benches are now on target of thieves in the area. The thieves are breaking these benches and selling the iron rods retrieved from it.
The situation is almost same in all the parks in Dwarka. Irrespective of whether it is a DDA Park or the SDMC Park, the benches made from cement, concrete and iron rods can be easily seen in a broken state.
The residents said that the anti-social elements enter these parks at night and break these benches in order to get iron rods.
A resident of Sector-3, RK Sharma, said, “How the parks will be developed and provided with such kind of facilities unless these types of activities are not stopped. Civic bodies should ensure that such benches should not be a target.”
According to sources, hundreds of such benches are stolen and broken by the thieves every year but no effort has been made from either DDA or SDMC to stop such things.
A resident of Sector-14, Shashi Bhushan, said, “In the neighbourhood park of Sector-14 behind Radhika apartments, many new benches were broken and stolen two years back. Finally, the RWA of Radhika Apartments asked the security guards to keep a vigil in the park.”
“The move worked and no bench was stolen in last two years. This must be taken as a major point to involve RWAs of nearby societies to keep a vigil on the neighbourhood parks. I think this is the way the problem should be addressed,” said Bhushan.
On the other hand, the police said that the civic bodies should make a neighbourhood model for such parks by involving RWA, NGO etc. Also, they said that security guards also can be deployed by the civic bodies to protect public properties in parks.
