Playgrounds in the city, the few that remain, are being
used for other purposes, in the process depriving children of play
spaces.

A few years ago, the government woke up to
the shortage of playgrounds and contemplated a scheme to bring children
back to the playgrounds in the city. But nothing has happened in that
direction. And, the city’s children have no choice but to play on the
streets.

Take the corporation-owned playground in Shanthinagar.

The gym lies dismantled in a corner while the playground is “let out” for political and community functions.

Not
only the children in the surrounding localities, but also students from
two private schools — SN English Medium School and Wisdom International
School — in the area used to play here.

With the
Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) not maintaining the space, the
children have been forced out of the playground.

The
headmistress of SN English Medium School said that children from her
institution regularly used the playground. When the BBMP rents out the
playground, the children are forced to play in the school’s corridors,
she said.

A spokesperson of Wisdom International
School said the institution books the playground for sports day. “Though
we use the playground only for a couple of hours, we pay Rs. 2,500 for
it,” the spokesperson said.

Prabhakaran N., a resident, said that he has been playing in the public playground for the past 15 years.

“There
have been times when we had to return home because the playground had
been rented out for some function or the other,” he said.

It
is similar at Malleswaram playgrounds. Even this play area is rented
out by the BBMP on a regular basis for various community and political
events.

As if that was not enough, the playground is
sometimes used as parking space by BBMP garbage trucks. The young sports
enthusiasts who use these playgrounds complain about the lack of basic
amenities such as drinking water and toilets.

According
to Sunil Yadav, an advocate, it is illegal to rent out these spaces for
purposes other than what they are meant for. “These spaces are not
meant to be used as a means to generate income, unless notified,” he
added.

He said that the use of the space for purposes
other than what it is meant for is in violation of the zoning pattern
and land use as indicated in the Revised Master Plan 2015 and the Parks,
Fields and Open Spaces Act.

While a senior BBMP
official admitted that playgrounds were being rented out for various
functions, BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah said that this issue had not come
to his notice.

“The BBMP cannot be renting out
playgrounds and denying the space for children and youth. I will look
into it and issue a direction putting an end to this practice,” he said.