Protests mark Mall park demolition

Vivek Chhetri

Pictures by Suman Tamang

People from various walks of life staged a dharna in front of Brabourne Park in Darjeeling on Tuesday to protest its demolition by the DGHC, which plans to set up an amphitheatre at the site as part of the Rs 9 crore makeover plan for the Mall.

“We demand that the park, which was set up in 1897, be restored to its original condition. This is a heritage site and should not be demolished to set up a modern structure,” said Bharat Prakash Rai, the secretary of the Federation of Societies for Environment Protection.

He said representatives of the Nepali Sahitya Sammelan, Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan, senior citizens and “people who love Darjeeling” were among the protesters (top). Work at the park started more than a month back and with the site almost dug up (below), it would be almost impossible to restore to its “original” status.Rai said his group might take legal recourse to stop work at the park. “We might go to court,” he said.

The administrator of the DGHC, Anil Verma, said the council would file a police complaint against the protesters soon. “We will file a police complaint against those who are trying to obstruct work at a DGHC project.”

The DGHC, which also has three Gorkha Janmukti Morcha MLAs from the hills as members, has almost flattened the park and brought it down to the level of the Mall. The first phase of the work is expected to be completed in five months.(The Telegraph)