Kadri Park: Beware before sending children to play

• Broken swing, dangerous slide

Kadri: It is normal for parents to take their children to plat at the park during the evenings. But, care needs to be taken before seating a child on the recreational equipments. This is so because, a few equipments here have broken down and some others have caught rust and are on the verge of breaking down.

Daily, kids happily visit the park to play and in this backdrop, a team from “Udayavani” visited Kadri Park to assess the condition of the recreational equipment installed in the park and also to check if the park environment was children friendly or not. During the visit, the team witnessed broken swings, rusted and broken iron rods. But parents who are oblivious to this fact are allowing their children to play on the equipment.

Of the many swings installed in the park, the iron chain of one of the swing has broken. Unfortunately, the broken part has been again fixed to the chain by using a plastic cover. As the broken part is close to the place where one seats, it does not come to ones attention on first looks. The parents who fail to notice this seat their children on the broken swing. However, as the plastic which has been tied has faced much wear and tear, if slightly more weight is employed, it can easily tear away and fall.   Next to this swing, there is another swing whose seat has suffered a bend making it difficult for the kids to sit on it.

Broken iron rod

There are many swings in the playground and four swings have been hung from one iron rod. Of these, one swing has completely been ripped off and only the rod is remaining. Even though this is beyond the reach of the kids, it has nonetheless suffered rust and there is need for its maintenance. Previously, a 13-year-old girl who was playing at a public park in Mahadevapura in Bengaluru died after due to a head injury when she was hit by a rod while playing. Therefore precaution is necessary.

Dangerous slide

The slide is one of the favourite recreational equipment of the children. But there is a possibility that the child might suffer a serious skin tear while sliding down the slide in Kadri Park. Normally, a slide ends into a flat surface. Hence when the kids slide down and reach at the bottom, they end up in a seating position. But the bottom part of the slide in Kadri Park ends with a sharp edge and can easily tear a kid’s skin.  Besides, there is a pit at the bottom of the slide, which has not been filled with sand and let as is. This will cause even more danger to the kids says a resident of Kodikal Sushmita, who has brought her son to the park to play.

We advised them no to sit

When the ‘Udayavani’ team was at the park, four parents who had brought their kids to the park to play proceeded to play them on the broken swing and also the dangerous slide, as they had failed to notice the discrepancy. Only after we informed them of the situation then did parents realized the danger and advised their children to not to play with the broken equipment. Daily many parents let their children play on such broken down equipment and are unknowingly inviting danger.

According to the information from the Horticulture Department, a caution board stating that the recreational equipment is only for kids below the age of 10 has been installed at playground. But those accompanying the children also sit on the swing and play. Because of this, the swing is unable to bear the weight and hence has broken down.

Hump required on the road

There is a high vehicle density on the road to Kadri Park and is causing much trouble since there is not hump on the road here. As this road is a short cut to Nanthoor and Bejai, it is normal to see vehicle over speeding here. During the weekends, more number of parents bring their kids to the park for play. In this backdrop, sometimes while playing or otherwise by escaping from their parents grip, the kids may come on to the road because of which an accident could occur. Hence a hump of the raod is essential.

Will bring to notice

“The maintenance of the recreational equipment comes within the jurisdiction of the corporation and horticulture department. A letter will be written to the chief of the horticulture department in connection to the broken recreational equipment and the situation will be brought to notice,” said Sundara Poojary, Women’s and Children Development Department

Came to know it was broken

“The swing for the kids to play has broken. I came to sit on it. I realized it was broken. Therefore I proceeded to another swing to play,” said Diya Kadri, a child who had come to play at the park.

Plan to install new equipment

”Every year the recreational equipment in the park are repaired. But the parents and relatives who accompany the children also sit on the swing. Because of this the swing breaks down repeatedly. There is plan to replace all the recreational equipment installed here with new ones,” informed Janaki, Senior Assistant Director, Horticulture Department.

Article by Dhanya Balekaje translated into English by Aaron Dmello