People throng picnic spots on Eid days

RAWALPINDI: Thousands of fun seekers including women and children especially on second and third day of the Eid-ul-Fitr thronged to the parks of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

The drizzle on the second day of Eid turned the weather pleasant in twin cities, which was an added incentive for the people of the twin cities to visit parks and other public places to enjoy the Eid holidays.

This year, four Eid holidays were announced with weekly holiday of Sunday by the government on the eve of Eid festival, which provided a great recreational opportunity for the citizens.

Having spent the first day of Eid on Wednesday on ritual exercise of greeting relatives, friends and near and dear ones, the citizens were seen flocking to numerous parks like Public park Rawalpindi commonly known Nawaz Sharif Park, Ayub National Park, Family park Commercial markets Satellite Town Rawalpindi and Jinnah park on the second and third day of Eid.

Girls were seen taking swings while children were screaming on merry-go-rounds and the adults were exuberant to see smiles on the faces of their children. The reason behind fun making at the parks was that the school children were free and fully enjoying Eid holidays, as all the schools would open again on Monday after Eid holidays.

However, the people were complaining about lack of facilities at the parks and high rates of edibles at canteens and cafeteria as well. They were also irritated while paying extra money for parking facilities at most of the parks.

They were of the view that the government should make entry to all the parks with parking facilities free and the prices of all items at canteens should be checked and controlled by the authorities concerned, so that the people could enjoy.

In the federal capital, Shakarparian and the National Monument were busy resorts after Fatima Jinnah Park (F-9 park), Rawal lake park, Daman-e-Koh and Faisal Mosque where thousands of people including men, women and children visited and enjoyed the Eid.

Rawal Dam Park in federal capital is a beautiful addition in tourists' resorts of twin cities, which was beautified and restored in the recent past. It was another place of attraction for the people of the twin cities specially the children and youth.

A large number of people were also seen travelling towards Murree Hills to enjoy Eid celebrations as the weather of Murree Hills was very pleasant particularly during Eid days.

Another busy recreational place of Islamabad was the city zoo and its adjacent children park (Japanese Park) also attracted a large number of people especially the children.

The parks in Rawalpindi were specially decorated to make them attractive for the visitors. The people also demanded of the government to make new gardens and allocate places for small parks at housing localities so that the people should not cover long distances, which also create transportation problems for them.

The families visiting the parks of the city complained that over charging, sale of substandard food items and non-availability of quality products are main cause of concern. The vendors take full benefit to the situation as the concerned authorities failed to control the quality and rates of the commodities.

The food-items being offered at the canteen were really tantamount to fleecing and the children were being robbed off their Eidis at the zoo, said Talha, a ten-year old boy, at zoo.

Special security arrangements were also seen outside the parks for the protection of the visitors. The public transporters including taxi drivers fleeced the people and charged fares according to their will.

The rates of chips, biscuits, burgers, soft drinks, mineral water and other items were almost double in the parks of twin cities as compared to open markets.

People also complained regarding the Auto Teller Machines (ATMs) of various banks including National Bank of Pakistan, which remained out of order during Eid holidays creating hardships for the people of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011