A young man is taking a siesta on a children’s play equipment. Sitting nearby, a few middle-aged men are shooting the breeze. Further away, on a titled walker’s pathway, a group is slurping its lunch. A few young visitors have parked their motorcycles on the walkers’ pathway and leaning on their machines, they are furiously texting away on their mobile-phones. Now, you know what is wrong with this unguarded children’s-park-cum-playground in Venketarathinam Nagar, Adyar. According to residents, the facility needs more amenities. While residents are willing to wait for these, they want another problem addressed immediately. The facility lacks security as it caters to children, this can be a serious error of omission.
Tucked away between Old Mahabalipuram Road and Lattice Bridge Road in Thiruvanmiyur, this park is located in the centre of Venketarathinam Nagar, which has a population of around 11,000 residents. It has a sizeable number of people working in government service or IT sector. There aren’t any gated communities and most residents live in independent or two-storey apartments, with the result that their children and grandchildren rely considerably on this playground-cum-park for recreation.
The facility is maintained by Zone-13 of Greater Chennai Corporation.
On an average, every day, the facility, spread over 10,000 sq.ft., draws 300 visitors. Most of the visitors are local residents, who come to a small temple located at the entrance of the playground. With houses located on three sides of the facility, it is safe from encroachments. However, lack of basic amenities including seating arrangements, safe children’s play equipment, better illumination and stormwater drains to discharge excess rainwater, remains a concern.
“The facility needs a facelift with basic amenities,” said S. Meenakshi, a resident in Adyar. What worries residents even more is lack of security personnel at the facility. As a result, the facility is open all through the day, and people who are not part of the neighbourhood can be seen loitering around it.
Residents complain that play equipment for children are damaged. Besides, in the space at the centre of the facility, adults play voleyball and other sports, which leaves residents with little space for play. Residents of the neighbourhood have requested the civic body to stop the playground from being misused and provide adequate security.
“Necessary steps will be taken to give a facelift to the children’s playground,” says a Corporation official.
