RAWALPINDI  - Thousands of fun seekers including women and children thronged the parks of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Sunday to celebrate the Eid festival.This year, four Eid holidays were announced by the government which provided a great recreational opportunity for the citizens. Having spent the first day of Eid on Saturday on ritual exercise of slaughtering animals and greeting relatives, friends and near and dear ones, the citizens were seen in numerous parks like Public Park Rawalpindi, Ayub National Park, Family Park Commercial Market and Jinnah Park on the second day of Eid. Girls were seen taking swings while children were screaming on merry-go-rounds and the adults were exuberant to see smiles on the faces of their children. The reason behind fun making at the parks was that the school children were free and fully enjoying Eid holidays, as all the schools would open again on Wednesday after Eid holidays.   However, the people were complaining about lack of facilities at the parks and high rates of edibles at canteens and cafeteria as well. They were also irritated while paying extra money for parking facilities at most of the parks. They were of the view that the government should make entry to all the parks with parking facilities free and the prices of all items at canteens should be checked and controlled by the authorities concerned, so that the people could enjoy. In the federal capital, Shakarparian and the National Monument were busy resorts after Fatima Jinnah Park (F-9 park), Rawal Lake Park, Daman-e-Koh and Faisal Mosque where thousands of people including men, women and children visited and enjoyed the Eid. Rawal Dam Park in federal capital is a beautiful addition in tourists’ resorts of twin cities which was beautified and restored in the recent past. It was another place of attraction for the people of the twin cities specially the children and youth.A large number of people were also seen traveling towards Murree Hills to enjoy Eid celebrations.Another busy recreational place of Islamabad was the city zoo and its adjacent children park (Japanese Park) also attracted a large number of people especially the children.The families visiting the parks of the city complained that over charging, sale of substandard food items and non-availability of quality products are main cause of concern. The vendors take full benefit to the situation as the concerned authorities failed to control the quality and rates of the commodities. “The food-items being offered at the canteen were really tantamount to fleecing and the children were being robbed off their Eidis at the zoo,” said Talha, a ten-year old boy.The rates of chips, biscuits, burgers, soft drinks, mineral water and other items were almost double in the parks of twin cities as compared to open markets. People also complained regarding the Auto Teller Machines (ATMs) of various banks, which remained out of order during Eid holidays creating hardships for the people of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.