No shortage of parks in Gurugram yet children have little space to play

Green spaces are landscaped, jogging tracks built, restrictions invariably put on kids: Residents

Lush green parks are a common sight in privately developed residential colonies and most Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) sectors in Gurugram. However, there is hardly any place for kids to play in the city as various restrictions have been imposed on use of parks.

“We are asked not to play in the parks. But where will we play then?” asks 13-year-old Sumit Sharma, a resident of Sector 57. On paper, every society or colony has a playground but in reality, the green spaces in the city are poorly maintained. “The playground in our society is off limits for kids and residents have a problem with ‘galli cricket’ as well. They call it a nuisance and get furious when a ball hits their window,” said 14-year-old Pratyush Mishra, a resident of Sector 46.



Upholding their right to play in parks, Delhi high court in July 2015 had observed that parks offered kids a sense of identity and belonging and was an antidote to social alienation, vandalism and violence.

States such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have the Parks, Play Fields and Open Space (Prevention and Regulation) Act for protection of playgrounds but there is no such law in Haryana.

However, according to chairman of the Haryana chapter of Indian Institute of Architects, Punit Sethi, every group housing society, plotted colony and Huda sector has to reserve 20% of its total area for parks and play grounds and only then the project gets approved. The department of town and country planning (DTCP) is in charge of making sure that the rule gets implemented.

Sethi said, “On many occasions, we see that the rule is not followed. We (buyers and residents) assume that the DTCP will take care of it and never take try to find out whether the mandated portion of the land has been developed into parks and play grounds.”

He said that the rules mandated playing areas for kids in every block and neighbourhood but landscaping these areas to make them look prettier was prioritised, adding that the problem was the mind-set. “In urban areas, we forget that our children have to play, run and engage in sports activities. We think it may damage plants and break glasses. The possibility of such damage makes affluent colonies put rules in place to restrict playing in parks,” said Sethi, adding that it was more of a social problem than a planning and legal problem. Also, in many places, parks have been turned into dumping yards and parking spaces, he said.

District sports officer of Gurugram Paras Ram said the city already had playgrounds such as the Tau Devi Lal stadium, the Kamla Nehru park and stadium and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Parishar. Also, there is an athletics stadium in Sohna. However, he agreed that there was a need for more play grounds and open spaces for children in their neighbourhoods. “There is a trend to develop jogging tracks in colonies and societies but along with these, there is a need to have places where children of all age groups can play games such as cricket, football, badminton, basketball etc,” said Ram.

Harsh Hooda, a resident of an upscale society in Sector 51 and father of two children, said there were parks in their area but no facilities for children. “Along with jogging tracks, there is a need to have facilities for children in parks,” said Hooda.

Schools are required to have playgrounds of their own, according to the Right to Education Act, but it is hardly a possibility in a city such as Gurugram where the cost of land is so high. So, the ministry of human resource and development in 2012 relaxed the norm and said it would be sufficient if the school management made adequate arrangement for children to play in adjoining playgrounds or municipal parks.

Needless to say, that is also not happening.