Kidney Hill Park to open for public after lockdown: mayor

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) Kidney Hill Park, where trees of 40,000 kinds have been planted, will open for public after the lockdown, said Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar as he visited the park on Sunday.

He said a large number of people wanted the park to be opened forthwith but their wish could not be fulfilled as gatherings in the park could pave the way for the spread of the novel coronavirus. Senior director coordination Masood Alam, director media management Ali Hassan Sajid and other KMC staff were present during the mayor’s visit.

The mayor said all parks, zoos and other such places would remain closed until the situation got back to normal. "The park is established at the top of a hill and the people will enjoy the city's beautiful view from here," he said. "Residential and commercial units were established on the park's land but now the encroachments have been removed.” He said they had widened roads and that walk-through gates were also being installed at the entrance. The KMC, he said, was bearing all expenses of the parks from its resources.

The mayor was of the view that they tried to plant traditional trees, including neem, mango, papaya and coconut, in the kidney hill park. He said the land was handed over to the KMC in 1974 but since then the park could not be constructed here.

Appreciating the efforts of the KMC employees, Akhtar said they had done a brilliant job in the supervision of metropolitan commissioner Dr Syed Saif ur Rehman. Besides, he also asked the director parks to ensure the watering of plants across the city, particularly at green belts, and keep trimming them for further beautification. "The trees and plants of other parks should also be looked after on a daily basis,” he said. He directed the staff of the Baghe Ibn-e-Qasim, the Polo Ground, the Bagh-e-Jinnah, the Hill Park, the Safari Park and the Aziz Bhatti Park to work in shifts.

Akhtar directed the parks managements to let staffers above the age of 55 stay at home, saying they were more vulnerable to the coronavirus.