Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 01: A civic dispute over the condition and management of Tiranga Park in Aberdeen Bazar has brought questions over municipal cleanliness, public toilet maintenance, waste handling and alleged nuisance at the centrally located public space.
The controversy began after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Andaman and Nicobar Islands unit, submitted a complaint to the Sri Vijaya Puram Municipal Corporation (SVPMC), alleging poor upkeep of Tiranga Park, garbage accumulation, cow dung, broken and empty liquor bottles, stray cattle and alleged consumption of alcohol in and around the park.
AAP state president Dr Arun Kumar Mallik submitted the complaint on August 31, seeking intervention from the municipal authorities and police.
The complaint also questioned the role of the elected ward representative and officials responsible for maintaining the park and controlling public nuisance.
However, Ward No. 4 councillor Abdul Islam, who was contacted for his response, disputed aspects of the allegations and provided an explanation regarding the waste-management arrangements and the public toilet located opposite Tiranga Park.
Garbage dumping or waste segregation?
One of the central concerns raised by AAP relates to garbage and cleanliness in the vicinity of Tiranga Park.
AAP alleged that large dustbins at the location were filled with garbage and raised concerns over what it described as excessive dumping around the park and the public toilet opposite it.
Councillor Abdul Islam said the situation needs to be viewed in the context of the municipality’s waste-management process.
According to the councillor, the area near the public toilet is used for segregation of municipal waste before the collected waste is transported to the designated dumping ground.
The explanation places the reported accumulation of garbage within the broader process of waste collection and segregation.
However, the civic concern remains whether such segregation activity is being carried out in a manner that prevents waste from becoming an eyesore or creating sanitation problems in a public area frequented by residents and visitors.
The distinction between a designated waste-handling point and indiscriminate dumping is therefore crucial and warrants clarity from the municipal authorities on how the site is managed and how frequently the waste is cleared.
Public toilet under scrutiny
AAP’s complaint also highlighted the condition of the public toilet opposite Tiranga Park, alleging poor sanitation and describing the toilet blocks and urinals as dirty and unusable.
Councillor Islam said the public toilet falls within his ward and is cleaned every day.
He also acknowledged that public usage and cleanliness practices remain a challenge, particularly when users do not maintain the facility properly.
According to the councillor, the municipality has also renovated the public toilet.
This creates a clear accountability point: if the facility is cleaned daily and has already undergone renovation, the authorities need to ensure that the maintenance is visible and sustained in practice.
For residents, the standard is straightforward—public toilets should remain functional, clean and usable regardless of who uses them or how frequently they are accessed.
What happened during the political meeting?
AAP’s complaint also alleged that intoxicated individuals entered its public meeting at Tiranga Park on August 28 and created a disturbance twice while Dr Mallik was speaking.
According to the complaint, Mallik had to stop his speech and ask members of his team to contact Aberdeen Police Station.
AAP also questioned the absence of uniformed police personnel when the alleged disturbances occurred, while acknowledging the presence of CID personnel during the event.
The allegations concerning the incident have not been independently verified by The Wave Andaman.
Councillor Abdul Islam denied responsibility for the disturbance, stating that the incident during the political meeting could not be attributed to him in his capacity as councillor.
He also pointed to the division of responsibilities within the municipal administration, stating that the commercial market area falls under the municipal Secretary/revenue section.
The distinction is significant because Tiranga Park is situated within a busy commercial and public area, where responsibility for different facilities and activities may be divided among municipal departments.
Alcohol consumption and people sleeping at the park
At the same time, Councillor Islam raised another concern regarding the use of Tiranga Park, particularly after dark.
He highlighted instances of people allegedly consuming alcohol and sleeping inside the park, particularly at night, raising concerns over the manner in which the public space is being used.
The councillor’s response shifts part of the discussion from maintenance alone to the question of monitoring and enforcement at public recreational spaces.
If people are regularly consuming alcohol or using the park for overnight sleeping, the issue cannot be addressed through cleaning alone. It requires appropriate monitoring and, where necessary, intervention by the authorities responsible for law enforcement and public order.
A park caught between civic maintenance and public use
The competing claims bring into focus a larger problem that extends beyond the immediate political dispute.
AAP’s complaint describes a public park allegedly affected by garbage, animal waste, broken bottles, poor sanitation and public nuisance.
The councillor, meanwhile, says the waste accumulation needs to be understood as part of the municipal segregation process, that the public toilet is cleaned daily and has been renovated, and that some problems arise from how members of the public use the facility.
Both aspects point to the same underlying question: who is responsible for ensuring that a public space remains clean, safe and usable after municipal workers leave and throughout the day?
A public park cannot be considered properly maintained simply because it is cleaned periodically. Equally, public behaviour cannot be ignored when assessing the condition of civic infrastructure.
The responsibility is therefore shared across municipal maintenance, waste management, elected representation, enforcement agencies and the public itself.
AAP seeks permanent measures
AAP has sought several measures to improve Tiranga Park, including stronger boundary fencing to prevent stray cattle from entering, a drinking-water facility, functional sanitation facilities and source-segregation bins.
The party has also called for regular police patrolling around the park to deter alleged public drinking and other nuisance activities.
The demands raise a larger question for the municipal authorities: is the current arrangement sufficient to maintain Tiranga Park as a public recreational space, or does the facility require a more structured maintenance and monitoring system?
Accountability now moves to the authorities
The Wave Andaman had earlier attempted to contact the ward councillor for his response to the allegations. Councillor Abdul Islam has now responded, denying responsibility for the disturbance during the political meeting and explaining the municipality’s waste segregation and toilet-maintenance arrangements.
His response provides another side to the allegations raised by AAP.
What remains for the authorities to establish is whether the condition documented by AAP on August 28 represented a temporary situation connected with waste segregation and public use, or whether it reflects a recurring maintenance problem.
The issue also warrants clarity on the exact jurisdiction of different municipal departments and agencies over the park, surrounding market area, waste-handling point, sanitation facilities and enforcement against alleged public drinking.
Tiranga Park is ultimately a public asset. Residents should not have to choose between garbage accumulation and waste segregation, between a renovated toilet and an unusable one, or between a public park and a space affected by alleged nuisance after dark.
The immediate response may be cleaning and maintenance.
The longer-term solution, however, is accountability, clear responsibility, regular inspection, proper waste management, functional amenities and effective enforcement.
That is the standard residents have a right to expect from a public park in the heart of the city.
