CM, LG meet at park launch amid services bill acrimony
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena met for the first time after a bill was passed giving control of Delhi's administrative machinery to the central government. They inaugurated a waste-to-art theme park together and expressed camaraderie and smiles during the event. The park, known as Shaheedi Park, features sculptures made from waste material and is funded by the central government. Kejriwal highlighted his party's efforts to combat corruption and improve sanitation in the city, while Saxena praised the central government's infrastructure projects in Delhi. The park will be open to the public from Wednesday.
Camaraderie and smiles marked chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor (LG ) VK Saxena’s meeting on Tuesday, their first interaction after Parliament cleared a bill that hands charge of the city’s administrative machinery to the Centre.
Kejriwal and Saxena together inaugurated the city’s third waste-to-art theme park on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg on Tuesday — the former as the special guest and the latter as chief guest.
The two unveiled a plaque at the Shaheedi Park, as the park is known, and took a 30-minute-long tour of the 4.5-acre facility together, as officials briefed them about the sculptures installed at the park.
The atmosphere at Shaheedi Park was in stark contrast to the acrimonious events of June 10 when the two appeared to jostle for credit over the inauguration of a university campus in east Delhi.
During an address, Saxena thanked the Centre for providing grants of ₹15 crore to develop the facility and highlighted several major infrastructure projects being carried out by the central government in the city.
The chief minister, in his five-minute speech, underlined his party’s attempts to rid the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) — which built the park — of graft and to help clean the city up.
Also known as “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Park”, the facility was conceptualised last year to mark 75 years of Independence. It was funded by the central government and built by MCD’s horticulture wing. MCD claims it is India’s first “outdoor museum park”.
Addressing the inaugural gathering, LG Saxena said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government of India is undertaking several efforts to transform Delhi through projects like the Urban Extension Road, redevelopment of the railway stations, Karkardooma TOD project and the ₹560-crore Bharat Vandana Park being developed in Dwarka.”
Saxena added that such waste-to-art parks are becoming permanent assets of the city with more facilities such as the Bollywood theme park in the pipeline. “Waste to wonder park (at Sarai Kale Khan) features Seven Wonders of the World, Bharat Darshan (in Punjabi Bagh) has replicas of the monuments from across the country. Now this Shaheedi Park provides a glimpse of the golden age of the country through figures such as king Porus, Chanakya, Ashok and Raja Bhoj,” Saxena said.
The park features 93 two-dimensional and 20 three-dimensional sculptures arranged in nine sets and three galleries which have been developed by 10 artists and 700 workers over the last one year. The artists have utilised waste material such as electricity poles, old engines, cars, grills, chassis among others to create replicas and scenes depicting famous personalities. The foundation stone of the park was also laid down by Saxena in July last year.
During their preview of the park, Kejriwal and Saxena started from Raja Bharat installation and covered galleries on Indian sages and scientists, the Golden Period of Bharat gallery, installations from the Maratha empire, Sikh rulers, Freedom Struggle of 1857, the Swadeshi movement and ending the tour on at the Paramveer Chakra awardees gallery. Patriotic songs were played in the backdrop when the two leaders were reviewing the park.
In his brief speech, Kejriwal, who likened the new facility to be on the scale of Rock Garden in Chandigarh, said that people of Delhi have a lot of hope from MCD in sanitation and giving corruption-free administration.
“MCD has always faced funds crunch. If we weed out the corruption in MCD, for which a lot of efforts are underway, the corporation will not face any cash crunch. In the first quarter, the tax and other levies collected by the civic body have gone up, and the Delhi government will help it to the extent possible. Secondly, Delhi is the capital of the country and the cleanliness levels here should be befitting its stature. We are making several steps to improve sanitation and people will soon witness results,” he added.
The facility is expected to be opened for the public from Wednesday. Entry tickets for adults have been priced at ₹100 and for children at ₹50. However, the LG on Tuesday said entries should be free for children.
An MCD official later said they were yet to decide on ticket prices for children.
MCD mayor Shelly Oberoi, who was also present on the occasion, said that the AAP model of governance in Delhi under the leadership of chief minister Kejriwal is now being implemented in the civic body. “We are redeveloping our parks. We will implement the Kejriwal-led AAP government model in MCD as well,” the mayor said in her speech.
