The sculpture of a brave woman, installed in the city’s Kachnar Park in the I-8 sector, is said to have been vandalized by unidentified individuals. This incident exposes the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA’s) utter inefficiency because the park’s management was unaware of the tragedy until it was brought up on social media. The CDA has been disputing this, claiming that no vandalism occurred and that the statue fell because it was too heavy.
On Wednesday morning, the problem was brought to light by park visitors who also manage the “Friends of Kachnar Park” Facebook page.
The monument honoring courageous women in society was erected in the park by the CDA with the aid of an artist in March of this year.
After noticing the damaged statue, university professor Tahir Malik tweeted: “Shameful act of vandalism at Kachnar Park… The CDA and the police in Islamabad should take stern action.
According to Mr. Malik, the monument was apparently broken by someone at night because up until Tuesday it had been put correctly. Despite the CDA’s claims, he said, vandalism had sadly already occurred in multiple locations around the nation in recent years, so it could not be completely ruled out.
Shameful act of Vandalism in Kachnar Park,1 /8 Islamabad this excellent sculpture has been vandalised . Sculpture was presented by a great artist in Islamabad whos art is exhibited at public places. #CDA Islamabad police should take strict action .@CDAthecapital@ICT_Police pic.twitter.com/3P4T21djAv
— Tahir Naeem Malik (@TahirNaeemMalik) November 2, 2022
While the statue of hockey player Samiullah Khan placed in Bahawalpur was desecrated by robbers who had removed the ball and the hockey stick attached to it the previous year, the statue of renowned Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh was vandalised only last year.
When contacted, the park’s deputy director, Mohammad Idrees, denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the statue had not been vandalised but rather had collapsed under its own weight.
“We have investigated and found no evidence of anyone around the statue, and all of the statue’s equipment was unharmed, indicating that it fell accidentally.
In reality, a few guests who arrived in the park early in the day for a stroll after praying brought up the issue in their WhatsApp groups. Around 6:45 a.m., my guard informed the supervisor about the problem, the man added.
The CDA spent significant money renovating nearly all of the city’s parks over the past two years.
According to sources, the environment wing spent billions of rupees without publishing a call for bids, and most of the work was completed using quotations in contravention of the law. They claimed that quotation financing was also used to place the statue.
On the chairman’s orders, the audit division of the CDA has been looking into three directorates of the civic body that carried out significant development work without putting out a request for bids. Some CDA directorates are said to have completed projects worth more than Rs 10 billion without soliciting bids.
