Panchkula, July 17 -- Five years after it was announced as the flagship recreational project for Panchkula's trans-Ghaggar sectors, the Rs.35-crore Multi-featured Park in Sector 24 remains incomplete. Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) officials now estimate that another five to six months will be required to finish the remaining work. The project, announced in 2021, was envisioned as Panchkula's largest urban park with world-class recreational facilities. It was initially scheduled for completion by June 2024. However, delays in financial approvals postponed the start of construction until 2023, pushing the deadline to March 2025. The revised completion target of June 30, 2026, was also missed. The prolonged delay has now come under the state government's scanner. During a recent high-level review meeting, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini ordered a probe into the project, on which nearly Rs.22 crore has already been spent. Nidhi Bhardwaj, executive engineer (horticulture), HSVP, said some civil works, including the synthetic track and walking track, are pending. She said horticulture work, including plantation and landscaping, is also in progress and the project is expected to take another six months to complete. HSVP sub-divisional engineer Rampal said the cascading waterfall is likely to be completed within a month, while the musical fountain, surprise fountain and cuckoo clock have already been completed. The delay has persisted despite repeated administrative interventions. In August 2023, then Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta inspected the site and directed officials to expedite the project and adhere to the timeline. However, the park has continued to miss successive deadlines. To complete the remaining work, HSVP floated several tenders. These include a Rs.7.36-crore contract for the cuckoo clock and musical fountain. In February this year, another Rs.6.01-crore tender was issued for horticulture works, including gazebos, machans, bridges, canopies, waterfalls and themed landscaping, indicating that substantial work remained pending even after the revised deadline had been announced. Meanwhile, questions have also been raised over the quality of construction. A former HSVP officer alleged that a track constructed about three years ago had deteriorated. However, present HSVPofficials maintained that the track still exists but is presently covered with soil and construction material due to ongoing work. Residents of the trans-Ghaggar sectors said the delay has deprived thousands of families of a much-needed recreational space. "There is hardly any park in the trans-Ghaggar sectors. Our sector has only one small park, and even that has high-tension power lines passing over it," said Hardeep Singh, president of the resident welfare association (RWA), Sector 23. Once completed, the park will feature a 1.25 km jogging track, meditation garden, skating rink, open-air theatre, cafe, musical and surprise fountains, cascading waterfalls, a dedicated foot overbridge, and ramps for differently abled visitors. It is expected to become the largest public recreational facility in the trans-Ghaggar area and one of Panchkula's biggest urban development projects....