Lack of maintenance ruins renovated Banani ground
Development work on the park was completed two years ago, but the authorities have not been able to appoint a company for maintaining it
The Banani Club Ground has recently been developed as a playground, a park and a disaster shelter, but it does not appear to be quite the multipurpose recreational space it is supposed to be as it is not being maintained properly.
Weeds grow and rainwater accumulates in places across the field, making it a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other harmful insects. The public toilet at the ground also remains closed due to a lack of maintenance.
Sources at Dhaka North City Corporation said the main development work on the park was completed two years ago, but the authorities have not been able to appoint a company for maintaining it. As such, visitors to the park are not getting all the benefits they expect.
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At the end of 2018, Dhaka North City Corporation started work at the Banani Club Ground on Banani Road No 18. Around Tk8 crore was allotted for developing the ground, which covers a 1.2 acre area.
After renovation, the ground was supposed to have been renamed "Women and Children Park", as it aimed to be more friendly for women and children, but it has not been formally inaugurated or renamed yet.
According to the plan, the city corporation made seating areas, a public toilet, a watch tower and a raised platform for use during disasters. Walkways and cycle lanes surround the playground, but all of these are getting ruined due to a lack of maintenance.
On a recent visit to the ground, our correspondent found that construction materials have been left at the south entrance of the field. The office rooms in the field were in a dilapidated condition. Holes with accumulated water across the field are breeding mosquitoes.
The raised platform in the field has also been damaged. Homeless people are living on the side of it.
Local residents have said the tin fence around the field was removed about six months ago, but the public toilet has not been opened yet. Looking at the rampantly growing weeds and scattered trash, it is hard to believe that the field was renovated recently.
Tonmoy, a fourth grader who regularly plays in the ground, told The Business Standard, "We come here because there is no other place in the area where we can play, but it is very dirty. Lots of mosquitoes bite us just as evening approaches."
"If the surroundings of the field are cleaned regularly and the public toilet is opened, we can play here a little comfortably," he said.
Sifat, a student of Dhaka Commerce College who came to play in the field, told TBS that it was closed for almost three years. The space in the field shrank after the renovation. The surrounding installations are unusable due to the stench and mosquitoes.
Md Russel, a resident of Banani who frequently visits the ground, said, "I heard that the field would be developed as an attractive site, but now I see that brick-and-cement structures have ruined the open space."
He also said the city corporation should first have a clear conception of maintaining a structure before going ahead with modernising it.
"Currently the Estate Department of the city corporation is in charge of maintaining the field and the tender process to appoint a company for this purpose is going on. Once the tender process is completed, visitors to the park will get all the facilities," Mohammad Abul Kashem, supervising engineer, environment, climate and disaster management department at Dhaka North City Corporation, told TBS.
He also said the contractor who renovated the park will repair the damage in its infrastructure before a formal opening of the park.
