JOIN USThere are an estimated 1,500 schools in the City without play area of their own, according to a BBMP estimate. Many of these institutions depend on BBMP open spaces to conduct their physical training classes.
Now the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has a new proposal to have parks and playgrounds mainly on government land as part of the revised master plan (RMP-31). Will it work?
The BDA is confident that it will, but with increasing competition for government land from various departments and sections of society, it is a tough task for the Authority.
No one is certain about the extent of government land available - whether close to schools or far away in desolate places. In such a case, there will be no use of the grounds and funds too would go waste.
No records
As for the Palike, even after its expansion in 2007 to a larger BBMP, the civic body had no records of playgrounds.
Ultimately in 2010, the Palike finally furnished some data to the government, but no one has an idea what the data indicates and how many playgrounds there are in the City.
The secrecy of the data besides, proposals were mooted to have parking spaces beneath the playgrounds in five locations. Fortunately due to public outcry, the proposal had to be withdrawn.
The BDA’s idea is to change its policy on parks and playgrounds beginning with RMP-2031. The BDA wants greater public participation in the development of the project by focussing more on government land and less on private lands. Developing parks and playgrounds on government lands would reduce conflicts and controversies with residents, they reason.
BDA’s promise
“The BDA will reserve government land wherever available and turn them into parks and playgrounds. Issues of legality, ownership of land, diversion of land use and violation of land rules will be eliminated. Residents need not worry anymore about what may happen to undeveloped land. With private lands, issues may crop up about why the government is suddenly interested in developing lands that have not been developed for years,” said BDA officials who did not want to be named.
The City, with a population of one crore, has around 130 to 150 playgrounds in good condition. This does not at all compare well with the 900-odd parks and gardens spread across the city.
The BDA will be looking at developing playgrounds in the new areas of the BBMP since it has no playground under its jurisdiction within the core areas of the City.
This is the case because the corporators and the MLAs have always wanted to develop parks in the Civic Amenity (CA) sites.
The officials say that in developing playgrounds, contractors don’t get the kind of money they receive for upgrading parks. More money to the contractors means more kickbacks to the elected representatives, the officials say.