Broken walls, no CCTV, weak patrolling: How safe are Delhi parks after dark?

At the 17-acre park in Mayur Vihar, maintained by the DDA, HT found at least three unmanned entry points and broken boundary walls at a dozen places.

Broken boundary walls, unmanned gates, dark stretches, inadequate patrolling and little or no CCTV coverage have left several of Delhi’s major parks vulnerable after sunset, a HT spot check has found, days after a minor was raped in Aastha Kunj Park near Kalkaji, putting the safety of the Capital’s green spaces under scrutiny. HT reporters visited 12 major parks across the city and assessed them on 10 parameters, including lighting, boundary walls, entry and exit points, security guards, CCTV cameras, toilets, patrolling and proximity to police posts. The check found significant gaps in several parks, even as some better-managed green spaces demonstrated that basic security measures can be put in place.

A deserted and poorly lit walking path inside of Qudsia Park. (SANCHIT KHANNA/HT)

Delhi parks

Women carry torches and sticks during their walks

“It’s safer in the mornings and on Sundays. In the evening, I only take a few well-lit tracks. There are a lot of men around so we are careful. Having Rio helps,” said Payal Sharma, pointing to her dog.

She was one of the three women still inside Roshanara Garden in New Delhi at 7pm. They all agreed that they prefer certain tracks and tend to not go “too deep inside” the park due to safety concerns.

“The guards are never here during the weekdays and I’ve never seen Delhi Police patrolling here,” added Payal.

Built in 1960s, the park maintained by the municipal council of Delhi (MCD) is spread across 50 acres. MCD said 12 guards were deployed at the park. But, HT saw no CCTVs or security at the gates or inside. Police said 21 cameras and around a dozen mast lights are installed inside. To be sure, while all the lights were functional, it was difficult to tell if the cameras were working. Still, there was not enough light and large sections were in the dark.

At Qudsia Bagh, another MCD park, this one connecting a Mughal-era monument, mosque and masonic lodge, there was hardly any light or security after 6pm. HT saw one guard and a supervisor patrolling the park on foot and bike late evening but none at the four gates of the park spread across around 20 acres in Civil Lines.

While mast lights were installed in a few sections, they were too far from the walking track and were covered by the canopies of the trees. Women usually carry torches and sticks during their walks. Shalini Shamnath, a regular, said, “The park is generally safe. I have been coming here for years. The guards are also active. But last year, one of my acquaintances was flashed by a man near the monument, and she stopped coming here after that.”

- via Jignasa Sinha

Don’t wear jewellery, says sign

Spread across 133 acres, the Arun Jaitley Park, maintained by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), has at least eight additional access points besides the main gate, with openings towards Shahpur Jat, Sadiq Nagar, and Panchsheel Park. Only three guards were observed – all stationed near the main entrance. The main gate was dimly lit and other entrances were largely open.

Lighting was concentrated along the walking track, with lights roughly every 20 metres and most appearing functional. However, open areas away from the track were dark after sunset.

A guard patrolling the park said, “We patrol the park in the morning and at night. Visitors are cleared out by 9pm.”

Eight police personnel were seen walking around the premises around 8pm.

A woman rearing cows near the park’s entrance said, “Patrolling is very poor here. Intoxicated people come here at night. I don’t step outside at all unless my son is with me. Chain snatching and mobile snatching happens here. Women are often the target.”

An entrance sign warns visitors not to wear jewellery.

At Millennium Park, there are no lights, so guards use torches to conduct their patrols. (SANCHIT KHANNA/HT)

The DDA’s Millennium Park, located near Sarai Kale Khan and built in around 34 hectares the park, has five entry gates. Around 7pm, two guards patrolled the park on a two-wheeler, while others seven stayed at its five entry gates.

With just 30 minutes left before the park’s official closing time, the premises were largely empty. A group of police personnel also patrolled the area around the same time.

“There are no lights here so it is a little difficult to check some areas, but we do our best with the torch,” said a guard.

- via Pragati Chawla and Gargi Shukla

Security guards seen patrolling at Arun Jaitley Park in Siri Fort. (ARVIND YADAV/HT)

Board that tells opening, closing times stolen

Maintained by DDA and spread across 435 acres, large stretches of the green space remain dark after sunset, with gates open well beyond the stated closing time and visitors navigating parts of the forest with torchlights.

HT entered the park at 7.24pm, 24 minutes after its stated closing time of 7pm. The timing board, however, was missing. Security guards said it had been stolen.

HT could not spot any CCTV camera inside the forest area, while there were at least two cameras near at least two exit gates.

According to a security guard, who did not wish to be identified, there are around 12 gates to enter and exit the forest. While street lights were installed and working on the thoroughfare stretches, the other parts of the area were pitch dark. Some visitors were seen walking with torchlights.

The 26-year-old guard at one of the gates said he had not been provided a stick and there was no public or staff toilet. After 8pm, he said, guards take a round of the park and ask people to leave but many visitors HT spoke to said that several gates remain open all night. The security guard also claimed that a police van also comes by, but only occasionally.

For some, the forest is a short-cut that they are forced to take despite feeling unsafe. Rehmatunisa, 55, a resident of Khanpur who works in Greater Kailash, said, “I am scared to take this route but it’s shorter than any other.”

Rohan Khurana, 27, who works in digital marketing firm in South Extension, claimed he had been threatened at knife point once. “People should not come here alone. It is unsafe,” he said.

- via Karn Pratap Singh and Hemani Bhandari

People seen with alcohol bottles

At the 17-acre park in Mayur Vihar, maintained by the DDA, HT found at least three unmanned entry points, broken boundary walls at a dozen places, and people entering the park with bottles of alcohol around 6.30pm. The park also has no CCTV cameras inside. “The only way for women to ensure their safety is to leave before dark,” said Reeta Yadav, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase 2, who visits regularly.

While the walking paths were lit, the benches were shrouded in the dark once the sun set around 6.30pm. This was also when it emptied quickly. There were no security guards to be seen at the main entrance, and the four-five guard booths inside the park were empty. A guard was seen patrolling on a motorcycle only once during the two-hour visit.

Around 6.30pm, people were seen entering from the Pandav Nagar side with alcohol and heading towards a secluded, dark spot.

- via Manisha Swain

‘People do drugs, drink and carry knives...we don’t mess with them,’ say security guards

Guards at Vijay Mandal Park, a 46-acre green space maintained by DDA, don’t “mess” with “miscreants” who come into the park after 9pm through a small entrance which has no gates.

“Those people come and do drugs, drink alcohol, and they carry blades and knives on them, so we don’t mess with them,” multiple guards told HT. Sitting between the posh colonies of Sarvodaya Enclave, Sarvapriya Vihar and Malviya Nagar, the park has three big entry-exit points and four small gates.

One small gate, near Begumpur village and next to a red mandir inside the park, has no lock or proper gate to shut. A jhuggi-jhopdi settlement inside the park, where people live and do odd jobs, worries several women visitors, though park supervisor Harinder Singh defended it, saying residents help out during emergencies like fires.

Naina Bobb, a resident of Sarvodaya Enclave, said, “I avoid the park after 7pm due to dubious characters. Night guards are often elderly and in slippers.”

Anuja Patail, from Sarvapriya Vihar, said she only visits with her husband, and never alone after 7pm. There are currently no CCTV cameras in the park, though Singh said a survey has been done and 46 cameras will be installed in a few weeks. While the main walking path is well lit, the middle portion, a major part of the park, is jungle-like and pitch dark by evening. The park has guards working three shifts (seven from 6am-2pm, six from 2pm-10pm, seven from 10pm-6am), with a night bike for emergencies and two guards patrolling together after sunset, said Singh.

The park’s boundary walls have several breach points, including a shared wall with the Begumpur mosque, with a mound making the fence easy to climb, and broken fencing near trees. Even though the park has three toilets, men still openly urinate around the park.

The park has seen two murders in two years – a Congress worker in 2025 and a girl killed with an iron rod in 2023.

A complaint helpline on display turned out to be invalid, and rules banning smoking and sports were openly being ignored.

- via Sejal Sharma

Template for safety in parks

Bagh-e-Bahar, also known as Vasant Udyan, in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar, could offer a template for safety in public parks with proper lighting and regular monitoring by security personnel across its 45-acre expanse.

HT found the park remained busy until around 8pm, when it closes, with people of all ages jogging and exercising. The park has seven entry and exit gates, with 30 guards deployed in three eight-hour shifts. “There has never been any unpleasant incident here that I recall,” said Manoj Kumar, a guard at the park.

Similarly, Lodhi Garden in central Delhi, even after dusk, the garden remains busy, with women walking and jogging, couples sitting along the pathways, people walking with their dogs and visitors exercising around the Lodhi-era monuments.

The 90-acre park has seven entry and exit gates and 21 guards, in addition to Delhi Police personnel who routinely patrol the premises, a security personnel said. A spot check found the park’s pathways well illuminated. It is managed by New Delhi Municipal Council.

- via Paras Singh and Snehil Sinha

Walking around by torchlight

At DDA’s district park in Janakpuri’s B-Block — spread over an area of 24.25 acres, while numerous joggers can usually be seen using the walking track after 7pm, lack of adequate lighting remains a concern here.

“There are pockets in the park which are completely pitch dark. Even on the walking path, there can be sections that are without any lighting,” said 24-year old Vashu Chandra. HT saw both men and women using phone flashlights to navigate the walking track.

The park has six entry and exits and while it had ample movement — predominantly from local residents from nearby blocks in Janakpuri, HT saw no security guards anywhere. Through the internal sections of the park, HT’s reporter had to use a flashlight to navigate.

- via Jasjeev Gandhiok

No CCTV cameras inside the park

At 6.30pm on Wednesday, Sarita Vihar’s 20-acre DDA park was still busy. Women were jogging along its walking tracks, children playing, and families walking.

An hour later, as daylight faded, the women had largely disappeared. The park became dark in several places, especially in the centre where there are tree canopies. HT counted at least 60 lamps across the walking paths, but much of the area away from them remained dark.

“I adjust my timings in the winters so that I am not caught here after dark,” said Ritika, a regular. The park has two security guards, one for each of its two gates, according to one of the guards. One lives inside the park and is supposed to guard the main Badarpur-side gate. The other arrives around 2pm and is posted at the Sarita Vihar-side gate. There are no CCTV cameras inside.

- via Pallavi Singhal

As the sun the fell, the Sarita Vihar Park became dark in several places and, what it had been a bustling area till an hour, fell quiet. (ARVIND YADAV/HT)

'Only yesterday my helmet was stolen'

Tucked into the Central Ridge, Buddha Jayanti Park is known for its dense greenery and relative quiet. But the same seclusion also leaves several of its stretches deserted and poorly lit.

Established in 1959 to commemorate the 2,500th birth anniversary of Gautama Buddha, the park, maintained by DDA, is spread across 88 acres of the central Ridge. Several peripheral stretches had little or no pedestrian movement and remained dimly lit. Most lights were concentrated along the walking tracks. No CCTV cameras were visible inside the park, while staff and gardeners were rarely seen. Sudhir Mishra, a Rajinder Nagar resident, said, “It hasn’t really felt unsafe before, but only yesterday my helmet was stolen. There is definitely a need for guards here.”

- via Snehil Sinha