Bangalore: While children in many neighbourhoods of the city are finding it increasingly hard to enjoy outdoor sports for want of space and end up playing on the roads instead, a public playground in Defence Colony, Indiranagar has been rented to a school for use of its students.
The SSB International School, which has rented the playground on the 6th main road of the colony, has begun converting it for use by its students and is expected to begin actively using it in a few months.
The development is worrying many of the locals as their children may have no playground left for their sports in the bargain. Says Ashok C, a resident of Defence Colony, “My son and his friends regularly play football in the ground.
With the summer vacations only a few months away, he is concerned that he and his friends may not be able to use it anymore. We do have a children’s park in the area, but it cannot be used for playing cricket and football. Where will the children go if the gates are locked by the school management?”
Other residents are afraid they won’t be able to erect pandals during festivals in the ground now that it has been rented to the school. Says Nayana, another Defence Colony resident, “The school has told us that no public events can take place in the ground. This is the only vacant area in the locality. Its unfortunate that we are losing this as well.”
It is believed the school management has elaborate plans for the playground, which will have a cricket pitch, a football court and a general play area for its students. As the construction work is expected to take a few months, the ground could be ready for its use by the next academic year, according to sources.
When contacted, the school authorities confirmed that no public event would be allowed in the grounds, but said children of the locality could still play there. “We will not allow any social events to take place in the ground, but children from the locality can play here still,” said Srinivas, director of SSB International.
