For nearly two years, a Çhennai Corporation playground on First Street, V.O.C. Nagar in Pulianthope, has been used as a dumping yard with large piles of garbage dumped there every day by the local body.
Spread over more than 10,000 sq. ft., the playground had been a lifeline for residents in the neighbourhood — including V.O.C. Nagar, Thiru.Vi. Ka Nagar, J.J. Nagar and Narasimhan Nagar — for over two decades.
Residents said they used to take their children and grandchildren to the playground for walks in the morning and evening.
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Besides, the playground was the only facility for children in the neighbourhood who spend their leisure hours there playing cricket.
“Most of the youngsters in the locality used to throng the playground during holidays. However, now, since the space has been completely taken over, youngsters spend hardly any time on the ground,” said V. Perumal, secretary, Narasimhan Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association.
The garbage apart, another problem is the use of the ground by cab drivers and autorickshaw drivers to park their vehicles.
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Thanks to this, the amount of available space has shrunk, making it difficult for children and their parents to enjoy the facility.
“Earlier, I use to take my son to the playground every Sunday. But now, I can only take him for a walk on the footpath because of the condition the playground is in,” said G. Sankar, a resident of J.J. Nagar.
Residents also said that after sunset, the public facility is used by history-sheeters. Several complaints have been made to local authorities, but nothing has been done as of yet, they said.
When contacted, a Corporation official said, “We will take adequate steps to facelift the facility and make it user-friendly with play equipment.”