KARACHI, Aug 26: President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday inaugurated the beautifully developed Askari Park, built on the site of the old Sabzi Mandi on University Road, and described it as ‘a gift to people from the army’.

He pushed a button which made a beautiful arched water-fall operational and also unveiled a plaque. Following its formal inauguration in a colourful ceremony, the park was opened to public.

In the first phase of the development work, an area of 21 acres, out of the total 38 acres, has been covered while landscaping has been carried out over 15 acres.

Speaking at the ceremony, the president said that Askari Park was a gift for the people of Karachi in general and those of the surrounding areas in particular.

President Musharraf congratulated people of Karachi and the engineers associated with the project on this occasion.

He said he remembered the congestion and encroachment once prevailed in and around the site when Sabzi Mandi existed on this land. “Now it has become a transformed area,” he remarked, and commended the efforts of the army officers and jawans in this respect. He also recalled that the first gift of this kind from the army to Karachiites was a beautiful park at the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam.

“When I first came to Karachi in 1999, the first thing I did was to visit the Quaid’s mausoleum where I received a briefing on the green area within its vicinity which was in a terrible shape. I decided to get a park constructed for which the cost was estimated at around Rs500-600 million.

“However, when I asked the army men to undertake the same, they told me that they could build the park at half the estimated cost. And they did it as the park was constructed at a cost of just Rs250 million.”

President Musharraf also referred to the Zamzama Park in Defence area and said it was another beautiful park being visited by thousands of people.

He commended the efforts and performance of the corps commander, all corps engineers and the other officers who, he said, worked in a dedicated manner on this project and completed it in a short span of seven-eight months.

He also appreciated the assistance of Sindh governor and chief minister in this regard. He stressed on proper maintenance of parks in future.

Earlier, Corps Commander Lt-Gen Syed Athar Ali welcomed President Musharraf and termed the inauguration of Askari Park ‘a historic event’.

Brig Junaid of the Corps of Engineers gave details of the project and highlighted salient features of the park.

He told the president that the park had its own sewage treatment plant having a capacity of 100,000 gallons per day while a quantity of 35,000 gallons per day had been arranged from other sources.

The president was informed that a 150kv generator was procured for the park for emergency use while a 300kv connection was obtained from the KESC.

He was also told that about 27,000 plants of 164 varieties had been planted across the park.

Regarding future development, Brig Junaid stated that construction of a modern ‘food court’ in the park had been planned and it would take about 11 months to complete at a cost of Rs60 million.

President Musharraf was informed that a wide area outside the park had been earmarked for recreational activities for children and the same would be developed in the next phase. There would be a petrol pump next to the park for which the estimate has been put at Rs30 million.—APP