A Park Side Story in Islamabad

Islamabad: Early Sunday mornings when most people are revelling in sweet slumber, a small group of Islamabad residents can be seen cleaning the Kachnar Park as early as 6am. One by one, some 30 volunteers arrive at the park, fully equipped with gloves, bags and waste pickers, and begin their search for food wrappers, plastic bottles, cans, cigarette butts and other discarded items.

Known as ‘Friends of Kachnar Park’, the community is on a mission to clean up the 1.2 kilometre long park.

“It’s hard to imagine that this is the same park which had rusty benches and litter all around only six months ago. The blooming flowers, clean tracks, colourful benches have compelled me to come daily for walk,” remarked Saleha Ahmed, a resident of I-8 sector in Islamabad where the park is located.

Unity in community can lead to wonders

The Kachnar Park neighbourhood initiative, which is inspiring the people of the capital city, started in September 2017. It began with one lady who decided to pick up the trash herself instead of complaining. “I was on my regular morning walk when I saw this woman collecting garbage. And it made me think why I had never thought of cleaning the place I visit regularly,” remarked Abdul Wahab who lives right opposite side of park.

The very next day Abdul Wahab and his friend Salman decided to join the lone cleanliness effort by the Pakistani-Australian lady.

Talking to Gulf News, Abdul Wahab said: “Honestly, I was a little reluctant. Why should I pick up someone else’s rubbish? But then this is how everyone thinks which is what led to this huge pile of garbage in the park.”

Kachnar Park, named after the lovely Orchid or Kachnar tree, was one of the most beautiful parks of Islamabad until 2015 when the place lost its charm because of public and municipal apathy. Simple amenities such as rubbish bins were lacking in the park .

Although the public parks in Islamabad are managed by the civic body Capital Development Authority (CDA), the plight of the park transmitted a particularly grim picture. The public leisure facility meant to be a hub of recreation and relaxation started to repel people because of the decaying litter, broken lights and benches, wild, unkempt trees and poor washroom facilities.

“No one wanted to visit the park, especially afetr sunset because it had become a den for miscreants,” said Bahadur, a senior member of Freinds of Kachnar Park.

“It was too painful to see this beautiful park go to waste. This is why we began this clean-up mission since Islam also teaches that cleanliness is half of the faith.”

In the last six months, the volunteer group has gathered over 800 large rubbish-bags of litter from the park.

There’s a plan in place

After the cleaning, the group turned their focus towards the plantation and painting of the benches. But this required both time and money. The pioneer of this unique campaign donated a litter picker and water tanker and later on, members contributed money to purchase garbage bins, a composting container for organic fertiliser and plantation.

“We have planted more than 1,500 new plants of native fruits like citrus, guava, black plums (jamun), orchid (Kachnar), as well as flowering plants,” informed Dr Surraya Wajahat, an active member of the group. “Of course, we cannot do everything on our own so we remain in touch with CDA and politely ask them to fix the things” she added.

The effort was finally noticed by the city administrative body CDA which joined hands with Friends of Kachnar Park for plantation by providing gardeners and ensuring regular availability of water.

A growing goodness

“Kachnar Park has seen the most extensive spring 2018 plantation drive in the city with over 2000 plants,” the manager of Kachnar Park, Muhammad Junaid Afzal, told Gulf News. He also informed that the park extension is underway by almost 3,200 feet at an estimated cost of Rs9.52 million which will add new tracks, benches, lights, dustbins, washrooms and a canopy to the park.

Appreciating the efforts of the group, Afzal said “People of Islamabad must take ownership of the local parks and streets to support the authorities keep the city clean.”

What began with one person’s efforts is now a strong community of over 200 volunteers, including elderly and children alike. “It feels more like a family gathering now. We meet here every Sunday, clean up the park, catch up on the past week’s progress and plan for the next week while having tea and cookies,” expressed Dr Saima Hameed. The meetings, full of fun and laughter, also offer socially isolated senior citizens a chance to reconnect with the community and share their knowledge.

Clean air and recreation

Sunday mornings at Kachnar Park are a refreshing sight. Kids can be seen learning karate while some adults are realising the benefits of yoga in one corner. Some like to bicycle along the dedicated lanes while others simply enjoy the pleasure of walking among lush greenery.

The park has become a centre of healthy and fun activities like spring festival and awareness campaigns to discourage the use of plastic bags to coincide with World Environment 2018 theme which is “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

The group has become a source of inspiration for the people of Islamabad as they regularly share environmental and health benefits of trees with their 16,000 strong followers on Facebook. Last month the volunteers also cleaned a nearby park, encouraging the local residents to keep it clean.

“Our mission is to offer clean parks to the people of Islamabad and a clean, green Pakistan to our future generation” said Abdul Wahab.

The initiative is well-timed as Islamabad has lately has lost around a third of its green cover to road expansion, construction of housing and shopping malls. Friends of Kachnar Park are reviving the beauty and glory of Islamabad city just like the milky white and light purple flowers of Kachnar trees that add to the beauty to Islamabad.

What citizens think about the initiative?

Ali Amjad, IT manager: “It is a heartening effort at a time when hundreds of trees have been cut down due to urban development, intensifying the effects of climate change such as pollution and extreme weather. The initiative to restore Kachnar Park shows how the combined effort of a few individuals can lead to a major change. All it takes is commitment and persistence towards the cause. Many of us can take inspiration from this small group of citizens and play our part in making this country a better place.”

Salma Khalid, school teacher: “I am equally surprised and inspired by the neighbourhood clean-up park project. We should take forward this idea to other parts of Islamabad and to the twin city of Rawalpindi. If we want a better Pakistan, then we all must take ownership of our city by at least disposing rubbish at the right places instead of blaming the administration. If we do not keep our streets and cities clean, no one else will come and do it for us.”

Rizwan Aziz, TV producer: “Friends of Kachnar Park are an amazing group of people. They are creating a positive culture in our city. It feels great to know that Islamabad city has such incredible group of people filled with passion and purpose. This group has changed the face of the Park in just few months. If they can do it, so can others.”