When land is an issue for any infrastructure project, open playgrounds have always been targeted both by private interests and government agencies. A case in point is the controversy over a Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) move to build a cricket stadium on an existing playground in HSR Layout.
Residents were opposed to the Rs 140-crore project, which was to eventually morph into an exclusive sports facility only a few could afford to enter. Besides, the playground area, flanked by trees, is the only lung space in the locality. The Palike had floated a tender early this year, inviting bids to build the stadium.
Multiple protests by the Federation of HSR Layout Residents Welfare Associations eventually forced the Palike to put the project on the backburner. They decided to go back to the drawing board and assured residents that the place would remain a playground.
The stadium plan had a viewing gallery for 6,000 people, underground parking for 200 cars, an auditorium indoor table tennis courts, snooker tables and a library. But the mention of ticket counters was a giveaway, implying the place would eventually turn into a commercial space.
Residents concluded that the ticketed sporting venue would leave out the poor and the underprivileged. Instead of the stadium, they wanted the existing ground to be spruced up with more trees around, levelling and a few benches. This, they told the Palike, will only require a fraction of the cost proposed for the stadium.
Indira Canteens on Playgrounds
The takeover of playgrounds has been rampant in the past too. When the Palike struggled to find space to build Indira Canteens at locations across the city, the first to get into the civic agency’s view were the playgrounds and parks.
In Kanakanapalya, for instance, the canteen came up on a ground where children from nearby schools would play every day. The canteen and the crowds that converged at the location chased away the children, deprived of another play area.
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