BENGALURU: The tragic death of 10-year-old Niranjan after a gate fell on him at Rajashankar Playground in Malleswaram has jolted the public. But this is not the first time that the playground gate collapsed. Regular users of the playground said the gate and the metal angle attaching it to the pillar was rusted and should have been repaired long ago. They accused the BBMP of negligence and demanded that guilty officials be punished.
Local residents said the gate has crashed at least four times in the last ten years. This, despite the BBMP claiming to have carried out maintenance and development work. It raises serious questions about BBMP’s quality of work, they added. “We send our children to playgrounds and parks to play and not die.
The city has only few parks and even those have many issues. The slides, and swings are worn out and electric wires are left exposed in many parks. Officials should conduct inspections and carry out maintenance work. The BBMP must fix these issues before more such tragedies occur,” said Venkatesh, a parent.
‘Child Protection Committee must in every ward’
Bengaluru-based child rights activist G Nagasimha Rao said civic agencies have ignored the safety of children that has led to several deaths.
“According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), parks and playgrounds should be child-friendly. Swings, slides, benches, drinking water facilities, and toilets should be safe and child-friendly. These facilities should not pose a danger to those who use them,” he said.
Playgrounds and equipment should be inspected and maintained by civic authorities regularly. The frequency of such work should be based on the number of children visiting these facilities, he added.
He demanded that every ward in the city should have a child protection committee, as per the centrally sponsored Integrated Child Protection scheme. These committees should be tasked with inspecting parks and playgrounds and address complaints from parents and the public. Even with the Malleswaram park, where Niranjan died, the residents had filed several complaints. If they had been taken seriously, Sunday’s tragedy could have been avoided, he said.
Civic activist Sandeep Anirudhan said, “Our public assets are not monitored or maintained properly, largely because the process is centralised. We need local ward committees to monitor and manage local assets. This way, they can be better managed and supervised, preventing such incidents in the future.”
Report of incident sought
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao visited the playground and later met Niranjan’s parents.
When told that several complaints about the gate went unattended, Rao said that a report has been sought to identify those responsible for the negligence. When TNIE contacted BBMP West Zone Chief Engineer Shashikumar, he said,
“The incident occurred in Datthathreya Temple Ward (Ward No. 77). The reason of the gate’s collapse is still under investigation. I have instructed the Executive Engineer to prepare a detailed report. Based on the findings, we will act against those responsible,” he said.