Can we have parks & playgrounds for kids and the elderly in Dehradun?

 

Mukesh Devrari

If the children have some inherent, inalienable natural rights then right to access to playground should be among the top. Although Uttarakhand has a decent proportion of green cover, still most of our children in large cities like Dehradun do not have access to any greenery. What makes the situation more ironic is, most of the small private schools also do not have any playground.

Most parents also do not look for the playground in schools. The aspirational lower-middle-class families send their children to private English medium schools, their focus is on English medium, they are least bothered about outdoor sports amenities. Only the renowned private schools have proper indoor and outdoor sports facilities but only the children of highly rich, powerful, influential and people having connections with high and mighty can find a place there.  

The result is millions of kids are growing up in our cities and they have no access to parks and playgrounds. They all are fond of cricket or will be fond of it, but none of them has played it in a proper playground. It is difficult to gauge the long-term health implications on the human body, physiological as well as psychological, due to the absence of physical activities while growing up.

It is needless to point out that the quality of life in India is extremely low, Uttarakhand is no exception. The Dehradun is, particularly in a terrible shape. Since, the creation of the separate state in 1999, people from all over the state flocked to Doon Valley to build a house partly because it emerged as the centre of power and partly because of its mesmerizing weather and lush green surrounding mountains. Nature had blessed it with beauty.

Although everything has been depleted in the last two decades as the population of the Dehradun has been increased many folds. All Lichi orchards, Basmati rice fields and vacant lands in the nearby villages have been converted into plots for the newly arrived population from various districts of Uttarakhand and other parts of the country. It is almost a dream for every middle-class family in Garhwal region to have a house in Dehradun.

This led to the emergence of unplanned colonies with narrow roads (12 to 20 feet wide). Millions of people are living in these colonies. Gradually the single-story buildings are being doubled, rural areas are being brought under the municipality, shops are emerging all around. There is hardly any space on road. The people walking on the streets, vegetable vendors pushing their carts, two-wheelers, cars, buses and autos are jostling for a space in narrow roads and honking on each other for no reason. So, far there intense hawking could hardly wake up our decision-makers.  

It is a hell on earth. You do not need to do bad things before you die to reach there, just settle down in any large north Indian city. Particularly during the peak hours, it generally takes more than one hour to cover the distance of five kilometres in the main city. Unfortunately, no government has done anything to solve the problem, partially because the people with vested interests are extremely powerful and commoners are probably infirm and irresolute.

In all major roads, the footpaths are completely encroached by the shopkeepers and all of them come together against the administration if it tries to remove the encroachment. Similarly, people also accept the current situation as normal as most of them have never seen anything different in their lives. The situation is getting worse as day by day as more and more new vehicles are plying on the roads, high rise buildings are emerging, and population density is increasing.

The civil society groups must sensitize the bureaucracy and the political class about the need to build parks and playgrounds in the city. It will add quality to the life of people. It is also important to note that bureaucrats and politicians who run our city and the state are also the product of the same society, they also have no referent to imagine and think properly. Most of them have knowingly closed their eyes and try to cope up with this deficiency by using their clout and money to ensure that their children and locality get access to parks, playgrounds, indoor and outdoor sports amenities, while others suffer.

Hopefully, a day will come when parents in Uttarakhand will demand the playground and park for their children, even though a small one is sufficient so that children can run, laugh, chase each other, ride on their cycle and a toy car, while their parents and grandparent watch them while sitting under a tree on the wooden bench. Hopefully, it is not too much to ask for to our insensitive bureaucracy and elected representatives.

(End.)