Children’s playgrounds in the capital must be recovered

Contrary to our expectation, the existing small number of playgrounds for children in the capital has shrunk even more due to a lack of attention from the relevant authorities including the capital’s two city corporations. Had the DNCC been aware of the crucial need of a playground for children’s physical, mental as well as moral development, they would have prevented the Eidgah Math at Mirpur-6 from turning into a kitchen market illegally.
According to a report yesterday, at Block-D Mirpur-6, about 75 per cent of the Eidgah field was occupied by an extended makeshift kitchen market. Instead of recovering the field, the kitchen market is allowed to expand. It is not possible for the vendors to sit in an open space that used to be a playground for children of the locality unless they are permitted to do so.
Investigation carried out by a national daily found that the ruling party activists extended the kitchen market for financial benefit under the very watch of the DNCC which, curiously, asked formally the National Housing Authority, the owner of the Eidgah ground, to hand over the land to city authorities for constructing a ‘shopping complex-cum community and kitchen market’ following approval from DNCC mayor.
Is this how the DNCC authorities will preserve what little space has been left for the children to play? About a year ago, the concerned people including the environmentalists had to fight hard for saving a Kalabagan field where a Thana complex was being constructed.
However, the existing fields such as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club are also beyond the reach of the children. Moreover, the Dhaka South City Corporation is constructing a shopping mall in the Dhupkhola playground at Gendaria under a so-called ‘renovation project’. Still, the National Housing Authority is found constructing buildings occupying the open space in Kalyanpur where children used to play even a year ago. The picture of open spaces in the capital used by children as playgrounds is more or less the same.
Compared to the divisional cities and district towns, Dhaka city now seems to have no open space for children to play when they are not in schools in the afternoon. As a result, one can spot children playing cricket or football in the narrow alleys and by-alleys in the capital’s neighbourhoods. But alleys and by-alleys are for the movement of people who sometimes, when they feel disturbed, rebuke the children harshly and even stop their playing altogether. This is how a nation cannot hope to raise their children as responsible citizens.