NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: “I usually come with my husband or daughter. I prefer walking in areas that are lit up. Coming alone is not safe.”Sandhya, a resident of Exotica Fresco, was walking along the front track of Biodiversity Park in Sector 137, Noida, on Friday evening.Several lights along the track were not functioning, leaving parts of the stretch dimly lit. For Sandhya, the darker sections were enough to make her avoid visiting alone.Her concern comes amid renewed questions over the safety of public spaces after dark following the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Aastha Kunj Park in Delhi.A ground-level check by TOI of parks in Noida and Ghaziabad on Friday night found gaps in lighting, security and enforcement of closing hours. Several parks had poorly lit stretches, while visible security or police presence was limited.
Dusty trails
At Biodiversity Park, the front section was relatively well lit, but several lights in a row were dysfunctional. Gaurav Bhati, 23, a college student who regularly visits the park for his evening run, said the problem was not new.“Every Diwali, the lights work for about two weeks before the area slips back into darkness. It is frustrating. There was so much publicity when the park was built, but today it stands largely deserted. Except for the front portion, the rear area has no lighting,” he said.The lack of lighting was more evident towards the rear of the park. Security guard Sanjit Pandey said he patrolled the area at night and tried to prevent drunk people from entering.“I whistle around the park at night and do not allow drunk people inside if I see them. But I am alone. How much area can one person cover?” he said.Pandey said several lights were not functional and the rear section remained dark. He also said there was no police van or regular police presence around the park.Nearly 3km away, Medicinal Park in Sector 91 presented a different problem. All three entry gates were closed when TOI visited around 7pm.Four men were sitting near the entrance, while the area outside was dark, with no functioning streetlights. Only four lamps inside the park were working.Security guard Vijay Shekhar said the park officially closed at 7pm and visitors were not allowed inside afterwards. He said two security guards were deployed at the park, in shifts from 10am to 2pm and 2pm to 7pm.“The lamps have not been working. We keep telling the contractor, but nothing has happened. Then some incident will happen and we will be blamed for it,” he said.The situation was similar at Wetland Park, where several lights were dysfunctional. In some sections, a single functioning light illuminated a larger stretch, leaving other accessible areas dark.A few men were seen sitting in the darker portions, with no security guard or visible police presence.In one corner, TOI found Abhay, 24, sitting on a bench with a friend. The two said they regularly met there after work because the park was midway between their homes.“We usually meet here after work. It is in between our homes,” Abhay said, adding that they had never seen a security guard in the park.“We make sure to sit in places where there is enough light and where there are some other people around us,” he said.His friend said, “Sometimes, it becomes unbearable. People are drunk and start hurling abuses, and then we leave early.” She added, “At times, some people start passing vulgar comments, and there is no one we can complain to. Who is going to argue and get into trouble? We need to be safe first.”In Ghaziabad, Lohia Nagar’s Gandhi Park also had gaps in basic safety infrastructure. There were no functioning streetlights around the park, while three men were seen sitting, drinking and hurling abuses at each other. No security guard or police patrol was visible.At Sanjay Geeta Park in Patel Nagar, poor upkeep added to the concerns. Piles of garbage were seen inside the park, with a resident saying complaints about its condition had been made repeatedly. “We have been saying it for so long. No one cares,” the resident said.The ground-level check showed that while some parks have designated closing times, security arrangements appeared limited, with a single guard expected to monitor large premises. The challenge is greater when sections of the parks remain unlit.Noida Authority horticulture department official Anand Mohan said several park lights were not functioning because of the rainy season and that the electricity department would be alerted.On the issue of police presence, Mohan said, “It should have been there, but what can we do? We try to maintain at least one security guard around the park and will look into it.”
