No place to play

Sorry plight

It is the holiday season but children have little to cheer about in their neighbourhood.
The play equipment in most of the parks are broken, parts of some of them have either chipped off or rusted. Using them has therefore become a risky affair.

Regular visitors to these parks point out that the BBMP is not doing enough to maintain them in a good condition. It’s not  enough to sweep away the dry leaves or keep the parks clean, the equipment too must be cleaned and replaced if it is unusable.

   Vishaka DS, a mother of three, used to take her children to the park, closer to her home in Jayanagar, regularly. She says that the park was well-maintained until recently. “The children are charged

Rs five for using the equipment in the park but some of  them are broken and rusted. If they are charging a fee, it is only fair that they maintain it,” says Vishaka.
She says they now don’t really venture into that park anymore.    Prithvi Shastry, who has two sons, points out that most parks maintained by the BBMP are in a bad state. “Those parks that have BBMP partnering with private agencies are in a better state. I’ve always noticed that the park just opposite the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium is in a bad state. They charge a fee of Rs five for using the equipment. The place is not cleaned. The government seems to neglect anything and everything that has to do with the public. Why is there such indifference?” she wonders.

The park next to Sankey Tank has play equipment that are broken in a lot of areas.      Residents like Sushma Kumar, a housewife living in the vicinity, complain that the children’s play area is indeed in a pathetic state, “My daughter got hurt while playing on the rusted iron rods. We immediately took a Tetanus vaccine, else it would have got infected. Why should the public play such a huge price for negligence by authorities? It’s time that they take up such vital issues and attend to them without any delay,” explains Sushma.      

BBMP Commissioner, G Kumar Naik, says that he has to clear the pending bills of various departments of the BBMP such as payments of ‘pourakarmikas’, for instance, before thinking about the maintenance of parks. “The maintenance grant for most of these primary departments of the BBMP have not been released for the last two or more years. When I don’t have the basic grant with me, how can I think of maintaining parks and ensure their upkeep?” he asks.
He says that once the ‘pourakarmikas’, who are in charge of cleaning up the parks, are paid their dues they will be put on the job. “The ‘pourakarmikas’ are in charge of park maintenance, so unless they are paid and given the assurance of regular payment, they won’t work. We will ensure that the old and worn-out equipment are changed,” he adds.