Gulistan Park, one of the last remaining green spots between the old and the new parts of the city, is virtually vanishing.

The 3.5-acre space, once attractive for its greenery, is now a shocking sight for many due to negligence of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).

Besides, the Mahanagar Natya Mancho (drama centre) in it also bears signs of poor maintenance.

The park situated beside one of the busiest road intersections in the city has virtually turned into a safe haven for drug addicts, muggers floating sexual workers, vagabonds and a host of similar elements.

Muggers use the park for sale of

mugged things and sexual workers gather there since the evening for clients. Drug addicts use the place to take phensidyl, marijuana and heroin. Hundreds of hawkers have virtually occupied the pavements around the park and transport owners and workers have set up makeshift union offices in it. Besides, there are a number of temporary restaurants.

As night falls, the park wears a different look with anti-social activities going on there.

A poorly maintained public toilet of the DCC and several illegal ones are destroying the usual features of the park. And destitute people are damaging the trees there to collect fuel wood and for other purposes.

It is alleged that many unscrupulous people use the drama

centre for holding 'obscene dances and fashion shows' in the name of staging drama. They present such dances at the intervals between sequences of a drama to attract audience, particularly young ones, an organiser said.

Political and other gatherings also take place at the drama centre. And illegal use of its water supply facilities goes on unchecked.

A number of vendors alleged that police personnel from a nearby police box regularly collect 'toll' from them. "On behalf of the police, a 'lineman' collects toll from each vendor every day," said the owner of a makeshift tea stall in the park.

From early morning to late in the night, the temporary restaurants prepare foods using burners

mainly for transport people and dump their waste haphazardly in the park.

So-called union offices inside the park allegedly collect toll from transport owners.

The illegal structures include a semi-pucca office of BNP's Gulistan unit. Materials of some DCC-demolished shops have remained piled up in the park since last month.

When contacted, Executive Engineer of the DCC region four Bazlur Rashid said they have 10 gardeners and a supervisor for the park.

But none of them were found there during repeated visits to the spot.