Dhanbad’s lone amusement park in a shambles

The only amusement park of the Dhanbad district, Birsa Munda Park, is lying in a poor condition due to lack of coordination between different government departments and prevalence of red-tapism in several organisations.

As many as 25 employees of the 24-acre park in Nawadih, including the 10 gardeners have not been paid their salaries since the last four months by the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation.

Several rides of the park, including the toy train, swings, and slides are lying non-functional due to the lack of maintenance. The Birsa Munda Park, opened in 2009, has remained closed since the imposition of the Janta Curfew on March 20, followed by the nationwide lockdown.

Talking to The telegraph Online on Tuesday, Paresh Mali (50), a gardener at the park, said, “I have been working here ever since the establishment of the park in 2009 but have never witnessed such a bad situation, where we were deprived of our salaries for over four months.”

Mali revealed that he was the sole breadwinner of the family of four, which includes two daughters and a wife, with his salary of Rs 10,500. 

“Due to non payment of salary since August we are finding it very difficult to even manage the food expenses of the family,” he said, adding that two gardeners from Odisha who live in Dhanbad are in worse situations.

Birsa Munda park manager Niwas Kumbhamkar said, “The situation of the 25 employees, including me, is pathetic and there is no headway for its improvement. We have even raised the issue with the district administration but it was of no use.”

The manager also informed that the security service in the park was also withdrawn and employees handling the ticket counter were now doing the extra work.

The Dhanbad Municipal Corporation in April last year took over the management of the park. A host of arrangements were made to improve the condition of the ground, including facilities for online booking of entry tickets and refurbishing existing facilities.