Six cities have only 20% of required playgrounds

Six divisional cities, including Dhaka and Chattogram, have 365 playgrounds, which is only 20% of the required amount considering their population and area, said Adil Muhammad Khan, executive director of the Institute for Planning and Development (IPD).

Adil Muhammad presented the keynote of a dialogue titled "Crisis of playgrounds in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh and what to do" organised by the IPD on Monday.

He said there are 256 public and private playgrounds in 93 wards of Dhaka North and Dhaka South whereas 1,030 fields are required.

Among them, 141 are owned by various educational institutions, 24 are colony grounds, 12 are Eidgah grounds, 16 government grounds are encroached upon in various ways, and 42 fields can be used by all.

In Chattogram, there are only 59 fields against the need of 600.

Among other big cities, Rajshahi has 13 fields while it needs 50, Khulna needs 90 fields but has 24, Sylhet needs 50 but has 18 and Barisal needs 50 but has 16.

Highlighting the information of the report entitled "Annual Primary School Census 2021" of primary education, Adil Muhammad said that currently there are 65,566 government primary schools in the country. Of these, there are 54,826 playgrounds. Accordingly, 20% of schools do not have playgrounds.

The planner said that private educational institutions quite often do not have playgrounds. Playgrounds are very inadequate in low-income or slum areas. Rural areas do not have planned playgrounds so they use the playgrounds of various schools. Playgrounds are shrinking due to infrastructure construction. Those that exist are hardly maintained.

He added that due to the lack of playgrounds for girls in the village, the opportunity for girls to play is insufficient. Many playgrounds in urban areas are owned by various clubs or influential circles. During the development, the opportunity to play was reduced due to the development of the playground as a multi-purpose entertainment area.

IPD Advisor Prof Akter Mahmud said the field is not just a sports ground but rather a medium of socialisation. 

"Our national level tournaments are almost over because the fields are occupied. There is no alternative to sports to make this generation a liberal nation. Without a massive movement, it is not possible to free our fields and parks," he added.

IPD Director Mohammad Ariful Islam said the craze that the people of the country have for watching football World Cup shows how serious they are about sports but playgrounds are inadequate. 

"In the absence of mental well-being, we are creating a mentally disturbed nation. Not only school students, but adults also need sports facilities. We do not go to play after office because we do not have a field," he added.

If roads can be made through land acquisition, why cannot fields be made? There are mini stadiums in different districts and upazilas of the country that are too unplanned, he said further.

Javed Omar Belim, former cricketer, Bangladesh National Cricket Team, said, "The government's master plan did not do what it needed to do. There is no plan or work on the field as to how it will be after the next 20/30 years. Our culture in sports is not developed like in other countries. So we cannot go to the last stage in various competitions. Because we lack practice and a suitable place."