Bangalore’s public playgrounds public no more City is losing many such spaces due to private need, greed
BANGALORE (Nov. 30)—Public playgrounds in Bangalore will soon become few and far between as many grounds are either leased out to private institutions or are being converted into commercial entities. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike administers approximately 150 playgrounds. Of these, only 34 are exclusively children’s playgrounds. But many of these playgrounds are leased out by BBMP to private schools and colleges, hence restricting their access to the public at large. Bangalore is filled with many such so-called public playgrounds, but three grounds have caused most inconvenience to the public due to their commercialization. They are:
Central College Cricket Ground Sharath Babu L., Karthik S. and Krishna Chaitanya considered the day I met them to be a very lucky day. Here’s why: They were playing football at the Central College Cricket Ground in Gandhinagar, which is owned and run by Bangalore University. All three of them are from Vishweshwaraiah College of Engineering, doing their first semester. All three of them love the game of football, but can’t join a private club as they just do not have the money for it. An intercollege football tournament was going on at the ground, and that, too, had to be wrapped up early as the ground was only available to the colleges for that particular day. That’s surprising, as it is a ground owned by BU and it is meant to be used by the affiliated colleges and students of BU. But that, according to the boys, happens very rarely. The ground is leased to six organizations to set up academies, conduct matches or practice. Events can also be conducted on the ground for a fee. “We face a lot of difficulties as only if the ground is free can we play. Even then, the authorities can throw us out anytime they feel like it,” Karthik said. Sharath has a similar tale to tell: “Some parts of the ground are being repaired for the private academies, which means we are not allowed to go anywhere near that. Besides, they have removed the football poles for these academies to function.” The Central College Cricket Ground is one of the most historic grounds in Bangalore. The iconic, 150-year-old cricket ground was home of Karnataka cricket till 1972 and to many great Karnataka and Indian cricketers. Before KSCA came to existence, all international cricket matches in Bangalore were played on this ground. But now, it has become a sorry shadow of itself, with the ground being home only to some private coaching centers. Expectedly, the authorities seem quite at ease about it. “All affiliated colleges to BU can use the ground and play by paying a nominal fee of Rs. 500, provided the ground is free,” said R. Munireddu, director of BU’s Physical Education Department. “We have given the ground to some private organizations like RK Cricket Academy and Karnataka State Cricket Association so that they can use it to practice. We charge rent between Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000 per month.”
Worse still, there are plans to convert the ground into an indoor stadium and convention center with underground parking facilities. This plan, according to the director, has yet to be materialized. “We have no other place to go as they charge money everywhere, and we cannot afford to spend money on such things. Besides, this ground is near our college and there is no other public playground in this area,” Chaitanya said. 2 public playgrounds in Cox Town Hari Krishna, 18, resides in a small house in the Doddigunta area of Cox Town. He recalls the days when he and his friends used to play cricket and football in a ground just 100 meters from their area five or six years ago. Unfortunately, the ground where Krishna and many other people used to play has been leased out by the BBMP to Clarence High School. That ground is now exclusively for the use of the students of that school, and no other kid from that area can even dream of getting into that ground. The sad part is that the school already has a ground of its own in its premises, and this ground is used very rarely—just for conducting tournaments or some annual school events. Right next to that ground is the ground of St. Aloysius Institute, right bang in the middle of its school and college buildings. The ground was given on a 99-year lease to the institute by the BBMP in 1947-48. The ground used to be open to public use at times, but for the past three years use has been tightly restricted. C.L. George, the headmaster of St. Aloysius School told The SoftCopy, “Earlier, the ground used to be open to players from the local area, but now we have imposed restrictions due to the construction of our degree college which is going on since the past two to three years.”
Interestingly, he thinks the ground given to Clarence High School can be made use of better and can be “open to the public” since it remains idle most of the times. In this never-ending saga of petty excuses, it is the local residents of Cox Town who are the ultimate losers, especially kids like Krishna who have nowhere else to go as they just do not have the money for it. “For the past two to three years, my friends and I have not played a single game of football as there are no other grounds nearby,” said Krishna. “The only other option we have is to go to grounds near East Railway Station or Jeevanahalli, but we cannot afford to spend that much money to travel to those grounds.” Poor kids the ultimate losers In all the glitz of indoor stadiums and world-class private academies, spare a thought for people like Sharath, Karthik, Chaitanya and Krishna. The only places they can properly practice the game they love has been snatched away. The irony of it all is that BU takes Rs. 64 from each and every student per year under the “sports development fund” so that students can use grounds like the Central College Cricket Ground. And it is the students who get the least out of the grounds. Hard to miss the paradox!
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