Islamabad: People still waiting for re-installation of dinosaur replicas

From The International News: People still waiting for re-installation of dinosaur replicas
Islamabad

Even after the passage of one year, the replicas of dinosaurs, that were the source of immense enjoyment for the people, could not be re-installed on the premises of Ankara Park, thanks to the apathy of the city fathers.

Erecting the replicas at the Ankara Park was a unique idea that was greatly appreciated by the people who visit the park from different parts of the twin cities to have a glimpse of the gigantic replicas of these creatures.

So much was the gathering of people that it had become a challenge for traffic personnel to control the traffic on that particular spot as the park s parking lots failed to accommodate such a large number of vehicles and many used to park their cars along the road.

The huge replicas worth Rs93 million were dumped at the backside of the same park where some people have often been found trying to take away some parts of models due to absence of proper security measures.

The dinosaurs were removed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in the wake of alleged vandalism by few people. The authority had decided to take away the models until the fence was erected around it, but it never happened till date and the fibreglass models of the extinct reptilian species of the Mesozoic era could not be erected even after the passage of one year.

The CDA officials while explaining the reason for the removal of these models said that it was the lack of civic sense among the people that forced the authorities to remove the models. There were few people, who were trying to damage these fibreglass models worth millions of rupees. It is better to first erect a fence and then erect models in them, said CDA spokesperson a year ago.

However, after passage of one year the fence could not be erected while the dinosaur models have been dumped on the mercy of thieves and harsh weather conditions.

The people who enjoyed the presence of huge extinct creatures on the premises of the park are now criticising authorities for not showing any concern over the issue. My Children were so fascinated about the dinosaur models that I had to take them every day to the park where they used to spend hours while playing around gigantic creatures, said Mohammad Aslam, an employee in a government office.

We are convinced that preventive measures should be taken to protect these precious models, but the process should not take too long, said Misbah Ali, a visitor of Ankara Park.

Ali said that the installation of replicas of dinosaur was something new that never happened before and children thoroughly enjoyed it. I used to take my kids whenever I visited the park for walk as they would play and enjoy for hours, but now we all are missing that opportunity, she said.

She said that it was probably the only free of cost quality entertainment opportunity for the kids but that too could not last for long.

The visitors believe that the management should impose fine and other punishment for damaging the public property instead of just taking it off. How would people learn about the civic sense if they are not given a chance? This is not a solution to remove such entertaining facilities, but a mechanism should be introduced for fining or punishing those who are involved in vandalism, said Shameem Ahsan.

Talking to The News , CDA spokesman Ramzan Sajid said that the PC-1 for the development of Ankara Park has been approved, which also includes the erecting of fence and re-installation of dinosaurs on its premises. We have allocated budget for this particular project this year and hopefully the project would be executed in near future, he added.