Tentultala playground: Hand it over now to city corp or PWD
While appreciating the government's move to keep Tentultala in the capital's Kalabagan as a playground for children, green activists yesterday demanded that the authorities take steps to modernise it and maintain all existing facilities.
They also urged the government to hand the playground over either to the public works department or the city corporation, which can then maintain it on a permanent basis like the city's other parks and playgrounds.
They said they would hold discussions with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and other stakeholders to find a suitable solution after Eid-ul-Fitr.
On January 31 this year, the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner's Office handed over the playground to the DMP to construct a building for Kalabagan Police Station. For several months, local residents have been demonstrating with the demand to keep it as it is for the sake of children.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday ordered that Tentultala be kept as a playground, to the relief of environmentalists and locals.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the playground would be open to everyone, but would be under the jurisdiction of the police.
Children have resumed playing at the ground since the announcement.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, said the playground has been identified as an open space in Rajuk's Detailed Area Plan (DAP).
The legal definition of an open space, she said, is that "there will be no boundary from ground to the sky", so the authorities should remove the wall that DMP had built on the playground.
If the wall remains, the basic characteristic of the playground will change, she said.
As the government has instructed that Tentultala be kept as a playground, it needs to develop the playground based on a good architectural design, she added.
Tentultala was proposed to be kept as a playground by the Department of Architecture in 1980.
On the suggestion of the then Dacca Municipal Corporation, the department wrote to the Ministry of Public Works and Urban Development to develop a children's park at the Tentultala playground, according to government documents from the time.
In 1985, a foundation stone was also laid by the municipality mentioning it as a park, Rizwana said.
According to the Playground, Open Spaces, Gardens, and Water Bodies Conservation Act 2000, no one can change the characteristics of a playground.
President of Institute of Architects Bangladesh, Mubasshar Hussain, said, "If the place is to be kept as a playground for children of future generations, it is important to hand over the playground to the city corporation officially as they have a mechanism to maintain the playgrounds and parks and it will also avert creating any problem in the future."
Mubasshar said the government department concerned which has taken Tk 27 crore from DMP, should also return the money to the DMP so that they can use it to build a model police station which is also very necessary for the Kalabagan area.
Stressing the need for a playground and open space Mubasshar said such spaces are also important for taking shelter during earthquakes.
Thirty percent of Dhaka ward areas do not have any playground or park, which negatively affects the mental and physical growth of children as they have no space to play and interact with friends, said Adil Mohammad Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
According to the draft DAP, 25 out of 75 wards under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and 10 out of 55 wards under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) do not have a single park or playground.
About 20 million people live in the capital, and considering the density of population in each ward, there should be over a dozen parks and play spaces in each ward, Adil said.
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