Dear DDA, setting up play areas is fine, but someone has to maintain them

In 2015, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) undertook a praiseworthy initiative — to transform the vacant areas in Delhi into temporary playgrounds for children, till something concrete was decided upon for the lands. It had plans of enlisting the help of local RWAs and NGOs to keep an eye on these playgrounds, so DDA could be notified in case the areas needed maintenance of any sort. However, neither did DDA succeed in following up this request with the RWAs, nor did it take the onus of maintaining these playgrounds itself. Which is why these areas lie in utter neglect today — strewn with garbage, with goalposts missing, volleyball nets torn, and with dangerous craters in the playgrounds that could potentially injure children. 

There are 26 such parks in the whole of Delhi, with two in Dwarka — one in front of Radhika Apartments in Sector 14 and another in Sector 3.

General secretary of the Radhika Apartments RWA, Anupam Yashovardhan, told City Spidey, “This was such a great initiative by DDA, but it all came to nothing. We were contacted once by DDA when it came up with the concept, but there was no follow-up from them afterwards. We contacted them initially when we thought there was any work needed in the playground, but DDA never did anything about it. The ground in front of our society today is in such a pathetic condition, because it has not been maintained at all! If only DDA followed up on its own request, we would've been more than happy to assist in the maintenance of the grounds.”

RWAs in the neighbourhood have another grouse against DDA. Despite claims to promote sports through these grounds, DDA did nothing about it. Neither did it set up the equipment it was supposed to, neither did it maintain the grounds, as a result of which they today stand forgotten and neglected. 

SK Sharma, a resident of Kautilya Apartments in Sector 14, said, “Neither have the grounds been levelled as they were supposed to be, nor was there any cleaning done by DDA. And I'm not even going into the missing or broken goalposts.”

SS Chowhan, president of Radhika Apartments, said, “This is a big area, and if properly maintained, it could really have been of great help to children. But now it's more a liability, as kids hurt themselves while playing here due the very uneven surface and rubble in the park.”

While the playground in Sector 14 is strewn with rubbish and broken glass, with goalposts broken and nets missing, the ground in Sector 3 lies utterly barren — there are not even goalposts pitched there.

When contacted, chief engineer of Dwarka, SN Singh, admitted he was not fully aware of the existence or maintenance of these grounds. However, he said, “It is a good concept and I will definitely see if something can be done about it. Let me first check the condition of the parks, and then I will do the needful.”