Gurgaon: Sushant Lok-1 residents hold protest to save park

The developer claimed that as per the layout plan, a dispensary is supposed to come up on the site

To save a green area of the colony from destruction, the residents of Sushant Lok-1 held a protest rally for over two hours on Sunday to create awareness. They said they have planned to hold a bigger rally in the future to stop alleged attempts to destroy the park and raise a hospital in its place.

The park is located in C Block and has been developed by Ansal API. (HT PHOTO)

The park is located in C Block and has been developed by Ansal API.

The developer claimed that the site has been earmarked for a dispensary in the layout plan.

“The developer is set to hand over 1.20-acre Green Meadows Park for commercial development and it would involve cutting a large number of trees and depriving children of a playground and adults of a jogging track. This area is surrounded by multi-specialty hospitals and there is no need of additional hospital or a dispensary,” Shashi Sharma, a resident and an activist who has been leading the fight along with other residents to save the park from falling into hands of a private party. They alleged that the hospital has been proposed purely for commercial gain.

The protest on Sunday was held after Ansal men started bulldozing boundary walls of the park in order to free up the space before handing it over to a private party.

“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 Sharma, adding that the park has been used for years by children, senior citizens, yoga enthusiasts and fitness enthusiasts of all age groups.

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Sushil Ansal, chairman, Ansal API, said, “The land in question has been earmarked for a dispensary site in the layout plan of the colony. The court has ordered status quo and has set the next hearing on Friday.”

The residents gathered in the park in good numbers early on Sunday and held a protest rally for two hours in order to raise public awareness on the alleged conversion of the green space into a hospital site.

“There’s Fortis, Max, Paras, Artemis, Uma Sanjeevani and Umkal hospitals in proximity to this area and there’s, additionally, a dispensary 200 metres away from the park. There is simply no need for an additional hospital,” Arun Kakkar, a resident, said.

The struggle to save the park began in 2004 when residents found that boards proclaiming that the site had been earmarked for a dispensary had come up overnight. In April 2005, residents were taken by surprise when earthmovers and bulldozers came rolling into the park to uproot the structures and dig up earth in the park.

“We put up resistance as we want it to be retained as park or a green space only,” AK Nagpal, president, residents’ welfare association (RWA), Sushant Lok-1, said.

In a bid to save the park, the residents moved local court in 2004 where the matter is pending.