Noman Mosharraf :
Most public parks and playgrounds in Dhaka city are off-limits to majority of the residents, children in particular.
Urban planners, architects, environmentalists, civil society members and rights groups have attributed the problem to the negligence of city planning authorities.
They said though Dhaka North and South city corporations have around 60 playgrounds and parks under their combined jurisdiction, they are not the only supervision and management authorities. The Public Works Department, RAJUK, Department of Forests and the Department of Environment are also involved with the running of these open public spaces.
While the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is running a project to free and develop 19 parks and 12 playgrounds under its jurisdiction, the other agencies have taken no similar initiative in this regard.
“All playgrounds and open spaces in the city are gradually being grabbed,” Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) member-secretary Iqbal Habib has told The New Nation.
He added: “There is no playground and breathing space
for the children and elderly in the city and the authorities are turning a blind eye to the issue.”
Other environmental organizations, such as, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Poribesh BachaoAndolon (PBA), and Green Voice shared the same concerns.
Our correspondent while visiting some parks and playgrounds found a number of makeshift shops inside these recreational places. Reckless littering of waste, both liquid and solid, makes the entertainment places filthy.
According to a recent survey by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), only 2 per cent children of the capital have the access to playgrounds.
Owing to negligence of authorities concerned, over the years playgrounds and parks have been destroyed in Dhaka city leaving no space for children to play, a prerequisite for building a healthy nation.
As a result, thousands of children have chosen streets as alternatives to playgrounds or open spaces for their amusement.
Lack of sports or physical activities creates a huge setback in the children’s physical and mental growth and it seems to be one of the major reasons behind the current up-trend graph of country’s child obesity. But the capitals urban kids are not getting space for playing neither at schools nor at their neighbourhoods.
Scarcity of playgrounds forces the children to be addicted to digital devices like tab, laptop and mobile phone. Such addiction is making the children obese and obstructing mental growth.
Urban expert Professor Nazrul Islam said every 10,000 city residents need an open space of four acres-park or playground-for healthy growth of children and prevention of diseases related to physical activities.
Specially, playground is one of the most desired things for children. But there is rarely any school that has a playground, said Jahir Uddin, a government employee.
Girl children are the worst sufferers as they neither get any scope to play at schools nor on local streets, said parents.
‘My son play cricket on streets, though I don’t like it. But my daughter does not have anything to do during her leisure other than watching television or using internet,’ said Anwar Hossain, a trader in Mirhazirbagh area of Old Dhaka.
Article 31(1) of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989), says that all state parties are responsible to ensure children’s right to ‘play’ and their ‘recreation.’
Bangladesh ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children (UNCRC 1989). In 2000, it approved the law for conserving playgrounds, open spaces, parks and natural water bodies in the mega-cities, divisional and district towns.
The Act basically imposes requirement of mandatory approval for changing existing land use of playgrounds, open spaces, parks and natural water bodies, and has a provision for punishment of up to five years of jail term or a fine of maximum Tk 50,000 for violation of enacted rules.
Meanwhile, environmentalists have claimed that at least 10 parks out of the 54 surviving ones in the entire Dhaka city were replaced with community centres, kitchen markets, mosques, rickshaw garage or truck parking lot, mostly by the city corporation itself.
According to experts, at least 93 parks are necessary in Dhaka city, one for each of the 93 wards. Before the city was split into two parts in 2011, DCC had 54 parks on its official list.
Most public parks and playgrounds in Dhaka city are off-limits to majority of the residents, children in particular.
Urban planners, architects, environmentalists, civil society members and rights groups have attributed the problem to the negligence of city planning authorities.
They said though Dhaka North and South city corporations have around 60 playgrounds and parks under their combined jurisdiction, they are not the only supervision and management authorities. The Public Works Department, RAJUK, Department of Forests and the Department of Environment are also involved with the running of these open public spaces.
While the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is running a project to free and develop 19 parks and 12 playgrounds under its jurisdiction, the other agencies have taken no similar initiative in this regard.
“All playgrounds and open spaces in the city are gradually being grabbed,” Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) member-secretary Iqbal Habib has told The New Nation.
He added: “There is no playground and breathing space
for the children and elderly in the city and the authorities are turning a blind eye to the issue.”
Other environmental organizations, such as, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Poribesh BachaoAndolon (PBA), and Green Voice shared the same concerns.
Our correspondent while visiting some parks and playgrounds found a number of makeshift shops inside these recreational places. Reckless littering of waste, both liquid and solid, makes the entertainment places filthy.
According to a recent survey by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), only 2 per cent children of the capital have the access to playgrounds.
Owing to negligence of authorities concerned, over the years playgrounds and parks have been destroyed in Dhaka city leaving no space for children to play, a prerequisite for building a healthy nation.
As a result, thousands of children have chosen streets as alternatives to playgrounds or open spaces for their amusement.
Lack of sports or physical activities creates a huge setback in the children’s physical and mental growth and it seems to be one of the major reasons behind the current up-trend graph of country’s child obesity. But the capitals urban kids are not getting space for playing neither at schools nor at their neighbourhoods.
Scarcity of playgrounds forces the children to be addicted to digital devices like tab, laptop and mobile phone. Such addiction is making the children obese and obstructing mental growth.
Urban expert Professor Nazrul Islam said every 10,000 city residents need an open space of four acres-park or playground-for healthy growth of children and prevention of diseases related to physical activities.
Specially, playground is one of the most desired things for children. But there is rarely any school that has a playground, said Jahir Uddin, a government employee.
Girl children are the worst sufferers as they neither get any scope to play at schools nor on local streets, said parents.
‘My son play cricket on streets, though I don’t like it. But my daughter does not have anything to do during her leisure other than watching television or using internet,’ said Anwar Hossain, a trader in Mirhazirbagh area of Old Dhaka.
Article 31(1) of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989), says that all state parties are responsible to ensure children’s right to ‘play’ and their ‘recreation.’
Bangladesh ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children (UNCRC 1989). In 2000, it approved the law for conserving playgrounds, open spaces, parks and natural water bodies in the mega-cities, divisional and district towns.
The Act basically imposes requirement of mandatory approval for changing existing land use of playgrounds, open spaces, parks and natural water bodies, and has a provision for punishment of up to five years of jail term or a fine of maximum Tk 50,000 for violation of enacted rules.
Meanwhile, environmentalists have claimed that at least 10 parks out of the 54 surviving ones in the entire Dhaka city were replaced with community centres, kitchen markets, mosques, rickshaw garage or truck parking lot, mostly by the city corporation itself.
According to experts, at least 93 parks are necessary in Dhaka city, one for each of the 93 wards. Before the city was split into two parts in 2011, DCC had 54 parks on its official list.
