Legal wrangles rob Dhaka children of amusement parks

Dhaka, being a city often dubbed by residents and experts as ‘concrete jungle’, offeres little scopes to children living in the capital in terms of amusement. Yet, two of its major amusement parks for children-- Wonderland Park in Gulshan and Shishu Mela or children park in Shyamali -- have shut their doors. Gulshan Wonderland Park remains shut since 2012 while the city corporation authorities sealed the Shyamali park last week for breaching codes of contract by the park operator.  
The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is yet to decide on reopening Shyamali  park. According to DNCC authorities, the park was sealed on November 25 because the lease holder had failed to pay the money for contract renewal with the corporation. Earlier, the DNCC had closed Wonderland Park in Gulshan following a court order, declaring the lease with the city corporation as illegal. Thus, two amusement parks for Dhaka children-- one catering to the middle class in Shyamali and the other for the affluent class in Gulshan--closed their services within a span of six years. This twin jolts have particularly affected children in Dhaka, which is fast becoming a concrete jungle without much open space to breath and play.
This has forced city children to make a beeline for the only amusement park at Suhrwardy Uddyan. But this park too is fast becoming overused with rickety and outdated equipment as its owner, the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), remains ambivalent on renovating the park, which was set up in the late 70s at the historic venue of Bangladesh’s independence. With legal wrangles and dilapidated state of city parks, some of which were developed in the 40s, 50s and 60s, children are finding it difficult to play outdoors. To make matters worse, most of the open spaces are vanishing under the onslaught of encroachers. Now, the parking lots of modern flats and apartments are offering the children some succour. Their other choice is to play on the streets amidst moving vehicles and garbage dumps.
This is a common scene at the old part of Dhaka’s Nayabazar area, where a children’s park has been turned into a garbage dump and parking lot for trucks. Asked about the future of Shishu Mela at Shyamali, DNCC chief executive officer Mesbahul Islam said they were going through the papers to decide about its fate. “We expect to reach a decision on this soon,” he added. Asked about Wonderland, Mesbahul Islam said that they have submitted a project to the local government ministry about reopening the park. “We have also sought land from the public works ministry to develop four parks for children in Gulshan, Banani, Farmgate and Mohammadpur areas” he added.

Legal wrangles rob Dhaka children of amusement parks

Dhaka, being a city often dubbed by residents and experts as concrete jungle, offeres little scopes to children living in the capital in terms of amusement. Yet, two of its major amusement parks for children-- Wonderland Park in Gulshan and Shishu Mela or children park in Shyamali -- have shut their doors. Gulshan Wonderland Park remains shut since 2012 while the city corporation authorities sealed the Shyamali park last week for breaching codes of contract by the park operator. The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is yet to decide on reopening Shyamali park. According to DNCC authorities, the park was sealed on November 25 because the lease holder had failed to pay the money for contract renewal with the corporation. Earlier, the DNCC had closed Wonderland Park in Gulshan following a court order, declaring the lease with the city corporation as illegal. Thus, two amusement parks for Dhaka children-- one catering to the middle class in Shyamali and the other for the affluent class in Gulshan--closed their services within a span of six years. This twin jolts have particularly affected children in Dhaka, which is fast becoming a concrete jungle without much open space to breath and play. This has forced city children to make a beeline for the only amusement park at Suhrwardy Uddyan. But this park too is fast becoming overused with rickety and outdated equipment as its owner, the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), remains ambivalent on renovating the park, which was set up in the late 70s at the historic venue of Bangladeshs independence. With legal wrangles and dilapidated state of city parks, some of which were developed in the 40s, 50s and 60s, children are finding it difficult to play outdoors. To make matters worse, most of the open spaces are vanishing under the onslaught of encroachers. Now, the parking lots of modern flats and apartments are offering the children some succour. Their other choice is to play on the streets amidst moving vehicles and garbage dumps. This is a common scene at the old part of Dhakas Nayabazar area, where a childrens park has been turned into a garbage dump and parking lot for trucks. Asked about the future of Shishu Mela at Shyamali, DNCC chief executive officer Mesbahul Islam said they were going through the papers to decide about its fate. We expect to reach a decision on this soon, he added. Asked about Wonderland, Mesbahul Islam said that they have submitted a project to the local government ministry about reopening the park. We have also sought land from the public works ministry to develop four parks for children in Gulshan, Banani, Farmgate and Mohammadpur areas he added.