A fancy park with a crumbling wall

A fancy park with a crumbling wall
The Freedom Park wall, having become weak, poses a grave risk to vehicles being parked outside
SUCHITH KIDIYOOR


Freedom Park stands majestically after all the painful restoration work. But the park wall on Kalidasa Road, built in the 1880s, is in a precarious condition and it might crumble any time, posing a risk to vehicles being parked there.
With the city witnessing rains and heavy winds, a portion of the wall came down recently. As the incident occurred during midnight, there was no damage.
PARKING LOT
BBMP chief engineer A K Gopalswamy said, “After the incident, we plastered the wall with cement. As we are planning to build a parking lot for 800 vehicles, we will demolish the wall which may take another three months.”
An official of the Freedom Park said, “Every day, around 700 people come to the park for jogging and walking. During weekends, their number goes up to 2,000 to 3,000. We have sufficient parking space inside the park and in front of the park adjacent to Seshadri Road.”
NOT PARK-GOERS
He also said that vehicles parked next to the collapsed wall are not of those coming to the park, but of those going to nearby commercial complexes and offices. This compound wall was built to protect the Central Jail by the British in 1880s.