Public access to most city playgrounds and parks has remained restricted for years either in the name of renovation or on the pretext of maintenance after their renovations.

According to the Dhaka South City Corporation estate department statistics, nine parks and playgrounds were renovated out of 29 which were brought under a renovation project called Jol Sabuje Dhaka while the total number of open spaces is 38 in the city.

Dhaka North City Corporation estate department documents showed that  there were 36 parks and playgrounds while 38 others are under construction.

Under the project, the DNCC renovated seven since the project had started in 2017 for renovating 18 parks and four playgrounds at a cost of Tk 279.5 crore, said officials.

The residents of Basabo, Khilgaon and Lalbagh alleged that renovated playgrounds of their areas were still off-limit to the public most of the time on any given day and are open only for so-called club members in the evening at the authorities’ will.

The residents of Mohammadpur, Azimpur, Uttara, Kalabagan and Old Town of Dhaka also alleged that their entry to the parks and playgrounds which are being renovated have been restricted for the last four years.

Dhaka South city mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that the playgrounds were kept locked so that the grasses can grow following renovation.

‘I have asked them not to bar anyone from entering the playgrounds and keep them open to the public,’ he told New Age.

University student Adnan Ahmed, who lives in the capital’s Basabo area, said that he used to play in the Basabo playground which the DSCC renovated in February 2020.

After keeping the playground shut for over a year when it was reopened local ward No IV Councillor Jahangir Hossain denied people entry though it was the only playground in the area.

Aminul Islam, a resident of a house adjacent to the field, said that his 13-year-old son Arafat Islam used to play in the playground with other boys of the area but now only the members of Basabo Tarun Sangho Club can play in the field.

Aminul said that the club management has its own rules and criteria that do not allow his son to become a member of the club.

In the entrance of the playground, a notice for the open space users was seen hanged describing the rules of its use. According to the rules, the park would remain closed on Sunday while from Monday to Saturday people are allowed to use it between 5:00am and 8:00am and between 4:00pm and 6:00pm for playing games and it keeps it door open to joggers till 8:00pm.

Councillor Jahangir was contacted but he did not receive calls but the people deployed for the maintenance of the playground said that sophisticated grasses were planted during the renovation.

Another playground of DSCC’s ward No I at Khilgaon have also remained closed to the public over the past year.

Locals said that after renovation the authorities fenced the playground in by using a roughly 12-15 feet high iron net. Access is denied and two to three keys for the two entrances were trusted with a particular two to three persons, said Mizanur Rahman, a local businessman.

DSCC officials said that under the Jal Sabuje Dhaka project the city corporation had started renovating 18 parks and 11 playgrounds in 2017.

According to the DSCC estate department, the city has 26 parks and 12 playgrounds for 10 million people, all of which are in its Old Town.

The DSCC started renovating 18 parks and 11 playgrounds in 2017 under the Jal Sabuje Dhaka project at a cost of Tk 200 crore.

Later, both the cost and the schedule were revised and at present, the project is slated to be completed in June 2019 at the cost Tk 243.

The project cost was again increased to Tk 343 crore and its duration was once again extended up to December 2019, which was again extended for two more years.

Till March this year, the city corporation has inaugurated six parks and three playgrounds, including the playgrounds in Basabo and Khilgaon and Sheheed Abdul Alim at Lalbagh.

‘Overall, 80 per cent of the renovation works on the rest of the parks and playgrounds have been done,’ said DSCC public relation officer Abu Nasher.

Saifullah Al Amin, a resident of Kathalbagan said that he used to walk at Panthakunja Park but it had been locked for four years in the name of renovation.

Jahangirnagar University urban planning professor and also general secretary of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners Adil Mohammad Khan said that the number of parks and playgrounds in the capital was highly inadequate.

But, he said, restriction in the name of maintenance and the unending renovation work only worsened the publ