Enough land for highrises, none for a playground

GHAZIABAD: Children at Windsor Place in Indirapuram had to face the ire of a resident on Wednesday when he reprimanded them for playing football in the housing society’s lawn. The issue was sorted out only after police intervention.

But the confrontation brought a larger issue to light: that there isn’t a single playground in the entire Indirapuram area for children. Residents blame the Ghaziabad Development Authority for doing nothing in this regard. The GDA, however, says it is constructing two playgrounds — one in Nyay Khand and the other in Abhay Khand.

“There is not one playground in the entire area. So, we thought of making good use of the society lawn with due permission from the RWA. But one of the residents objected to us playing on the society premises,” said Dhrubanka Dutta.

His mother Mita Dutta said, “On Wednesday evening, there was a whole lot of drama here when a resident stopped children from playing and when RWA members intervened, a scuffle broke out.” “I feel sad when I see children spending their time chatting online and indulging in video games rather than playing outdoor games,” she added.

Alok Kumar, the president of the Federation of Apartment Owner’s Association, also lashed out at the development authority.

“There is a provision of playground in 2021 Master Plan, but even after more than a decade-and-a-half since Indirapuram came into existence, GDA has done nothing. A patch of land earmarked for playground has been doled out to builders after changing land use policy,” he said.

When contacted, GDA’s vice-chairman Vijay Kumar Yadav admitted that the fault on part of the civic agency, but said, “We are already working on two sites for playground and in two months’ time, a playground would come up in Nyay Khand parallel to NH24.”

“There is another site in Abhay Khand where another playground is coming up but it will take time,” he added.

Giving details of the two parks, GDA’s horticulture officer SP Sisodiya said, “A 317m by 65m multi-purpose playground is being developed in Nyay Khand 1 along NH24 at a cost of 1.25 crore, which will be ready for use within two months.” “The playground will have badminton, volleyball and basketball courts and also a golf course. Another 12 acres of land is being developed for a playground in Abhay Khand at a cost of Rs 4 crore, which will be ready in six months’ time,” he added.