A historical monument, Coronation Park in Burari now reduced to a 'swampland'
New Delhi: Overgrown vegetation, lawns and pathways around the iconic Coronation Pillar and Raj-era statues flooded with rain water — the sight at a historic park here, where "New Delhi'' was born in 1911, is anything but visitor-friendly.
The place holds great historical significance as the Delhi Durbar was held on this very site, where King George V and Queen Mary were coronated as the emperor and the empress of India on December 12, 1911, and the British monarch had also announced the shifting of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
On World Tourism Day on Monday, the towering obelisk with a flight of stone steps lay surrounded with thick overgrown vegetation and stagnated rain water, turning the once verdant lawns into practically a swampland.
The marble-made grand statues of King George V and of the four Viceroys, Lord Hardinge, Lord Willingdon, Lord Irwin and Lord Chelmsford, stood stoically amid a mess created by the monsoon rains, which on few days in the recent past had caused massive waterlogging in various parts of Delhi with record rainfall.
To make matters worse, heritage enthusiasts and other people visiting the historic Coronation Park in north west Delhi's Burari area, were not allowed to enter the park on Sunday by security guards, who cited "lodging of paramilitary personnel" on its premises as the reason.
The massive heritage site falling under the Delhi Development Authority, sits next to Burari grounds, also owned by the DDA, where a large number of farmers protesting against the new farm laws, had earlier camped amid heavy security deployment. The main farmer protests are happening at Delhi border areas.
The security guards on duty at the Coronation Park said that visitors are not being allowed for a long time as paramilitary personnel are lodged in a building on its premises. However, a senior official of the DDA, when contacted, said, "No such official order has been issued. The park is open to public."
