Children's playground turns into planners' plaything

The city has lost another children's playground as the authorities have planned to build residential quarters for Ansar members at the place.

Children from some of the most congested neighbourhoods of the city played at Sabuj Sangha ground in Malibagh Chowdhurypara for more than half a century. In January last year the ground was fenced with all its toys and rides closed.

"We have a plan to build quarters for Ansar members and maybe some other structures," said an Ansar officer, explaining why they have closed the playground.

Locals said Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) officers on the night of January 31 last year arrived there with corrugated iron sheets, bamboo and other construction materials and set up a metallic fence around the playground.

Today scampering children romp around the circular street that surrounds the playground enclosed by a rusting metallic barrier.

"Asphalt can never replace a grass turf," said Munir, a local schoolboy. "Playing in the bumpy, potholed streets is nowhere near as fun as playing in a real ground."

"We used to look forward to afternoons, when we could play cricket on the ground. There used to be a competition between different groups for taking over the centre turf," said Tomal, another high school goer from the neighbourhood. "I really miss those days."

“In a city where there is very little nature left, kids are living in a synthetic indoor setting,” said Khalil Hossain, a local resident. “When they go outside, they should feel grass and soil. But we are taking that away from them too.”

Khalil's neighbours also agreed that their children desperately need a playground. They said the 2-bigha ground, also known as Chowdhurypara Pachaar Math, has always been a victim of tug-of-war between various authorities and influential quarters.

Hafizur Rahman Moina, general secretary of Khilgaon Samajik Sangstha (KSS), said the place designated as a children's park in the City Master Plan of 1961, has always been a target of encroachment by the influential quarters of the society, denying the demand of the local people for maintaining it as a recreational park.

"Being the only children's playground in the area this has been subjected to attempts of encroachment in the past, and it never got to become a full-fledged park," said Moina.

"It [the ground] has always been surrounded by rickshaw garages, makeshift stores, mechanical workshops, etc. And considering the fact that no other option is available in the area¸ the children used to go and play there every day even with all the risks involved," said Majibur Rahman, a local resident.

Jamilur Islam, an environmentalist and social worker, said a High Court bench had issued an injunction on any type of construction on the playground and changing the nature and character of the land in any manner. But the Ansar and VDP have been occupying the playground violating the High Court injunction."

However, sources at the Ansar and VDP headquarters claimed that they are rightfully occupying the ground.

"Different people are claiming different things. But the reality is we got lease of the ground in 1987. Even though successive governments made attempts to allocate the ground to other organisations, the original allocation [the lease] was never cancelled," said a top official at the Ansar and VDP headquarters.

However, sources said the allotment was cancelled by the public works ministry of the caretaker government of 1996 following protests from the locals. The then government decided to hand it over to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) for maintaining it as a park.

Later the ground was allotted to Sabuj Moti Trust (SMT) on July 12, 2000 for the construction of a health complex. This allotment too was cancelled on November 25, 2004 after the BNP-Jamaat alliance government came to power. The government then issued an order for developing the ground as a park.

Following a writ petition filed by SMT on January 2, 2005, the High Court issued an injunction on the ministry and instructed the Ansar not to make any construction on the designated land till the disposal of the writ petition.

Col Abul Kalam Mohammad Zaki who was director (admin) of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP when the ground was closed said steps will be taken, if necessary, to renovate the ground and turn it into a full-fledged playground under Ansar and VDP supervision.

Locals expressed resentment and discontent over the authorities' failure to save the ground and turn it into a recreational park for the children.