E-Paper
Junkyard grows on beauty spot
AN UGLY mole that sprouted on the banks of Gomti some time ago is growing. Strangely so, at a time when the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is working on an ambitious beautification plan to launch a steamer ride from the Kudia Ghat-to-Laxman Mela Ground-stretch of the river. Traffic Police Laxman Mela Chowki Yard is to blame for the eyesore. As the river brims with monsoon water, its bank wears the look of a junkyard. The spot has been allotted to the Traffic Police to park vehicles seized or impounded by the Regional Transport Office.
AN UGLY mole that sprouted on the banks of Gomti some time ago is growing. Strangely so, at a time when the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is working on an ambitious beautification plan to launch a steamer ride from the Kudia Ghat-to-Laxman Mela Ground-stretch of the river.
Traffic Police Laxman Mela Chowki Yard is to blame for the eyesore. As the river brims with monsoon water, its bank wears the look of a junkyard. The spot has been allotted to the Traffic Police to park vehicles seized or impounded by the Regional Transport Office. Gradually, the spot became less of a yard for seized vehicles than for condemned ones. Now the spot has over 125 vehicles—city buses, school buses, private four and two wheelers, tempos, etc. It is ironical that while the LMC is carrying out a River Front Development Project the stretch is turning into an ugly junkyard.
Vehicles dumped here get soaked in rainwater and start rotting. First, wheels get deflated and worn out and then fungus and algae cover them up and grow inside. Gradually, only the chassis and outer bodies remain, rest gets worn out.
The spot, adjacent to Nadia Kinare—an amusement spot on the banks of the river, has become a prominent sight from any boat on the river or from the New Hyderabad road. Besides a steamer ride the LMC is also planning an amusement park on the riverbank. The erstwhile Laxman Mela Ground has been completely converted into a green patch with thousands of saplings of trees already planted on it by the LMC. At the same time, a better Laxman Mela Ground is coming up a kilometre away.
When HT Lucknow Live spoke to municipal commissioner Ram Bodh Maurya, he said, “I noticed that the spot has become a big eyesore. I think we should now start thinking in terms of providing some other spot for the yard. We will decided about it and give an alternative place to for the yard somewhere else in the city. We will cover this area with foliage too.”
