Summer holidays are here

BANGALORE: It is vacation time. Buthow safe are play equipment in your parks? What could be done to make playing anenjoyable experience?Incidents in the past are grave reminders of how unsafe our parks are. In 2008, 24-year-old Ayesha Abdul Razzaq Byadgi died when she tried to save her child who slipped off during an amusement ride at Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park. In another incident, a child was killed when a bench broke in Vidyaranyapura Park.Not even kids' deaths will perhaps wake upauthorities to make children's spaces safer. Parks in Bangalore cry formaintenance. Though the horticulture department maintains the landscape andlawns in parks, playground equipment in most are in patheticcondition.For instance, the slide in Coles Park is broken and brokenswings are tied with cloths. While civic authorities are oblivious of this,children are unaware of the danger and continue to play.Lack of safety standards in manufacturing and placing playground equipment in parks is one of the reasons why such green spaces have become dangerous zones. Robin Das, chairman and MD, Koochie Play Systems, said there are no standards followed in selecting playground equipment for public spaces in India.The safetystandardsAs per international standards framed out by US ConsumerProduct Safety Commission: "There should be protective surfacing. Almost 60% ofthe injuries are caused by falls, protective surfacing under and around allplayground equipment is the most crucial safety factor on playgrounds. Certainloose-fill surfacing materials are acceptable.''On the other hand,fall zone should be covered with a protective covering material. Stationaryclimbing equipment and slides should have a fall zone extending a minimum of sixfeet in all directions from the perimeter of the equipment. There must be guardrails to ensure a child sits down before using the slide. Swings should alsohave a fall zone of 6 feet from the outer edge of the support structures. As perthe international standards, playgrounds should be inspected on regularbasis.We will focus on maintenanceMaintenance ofplayground equipment and parks is given to a contractor for a specified period.It is true that parks are badly maintained. In order to monitor them properly,we have called for tenders again. They'll be finalized in another 8 to 10 days.We will remove the damaged playground equipment and install new ones in theseparks. Their maintenance will be carried out at the zonal levels inBangalore.L Ranganna | standing committee chairman of horticulture,BBMPRWAs should monitorThere are at least 710 parks inBangalore alone. Though there are international standards for manufacturing andplacing of playground equipment in parks, there are no set standards inBangalore. BBMP should not wash its hands of saying that it is theresponsibility of contractors. Resident welfare associations and communitygroups should take up monitoring work. A system should be established so thatthe groups inform civic authorities to take up maintenance work. Civicauthorities should also act upon their recommendations.Kavitha Krishnamoorthy | founder of Kilikili, a trust for inclusive play spacesSafety standards must be followedIn India, thereare many who manufacture slides that are 10 and 12 feet high. These are not safeas critical injuries result from children falling off such tall slides. When youuse such big slides, it is important to also use the prescribed safety flooring.Furthermore, it is important to ensure that safety barriers and guard rails aremade to stipulated heights as insufficient heights will allow children to climband fall over to the other side of the playground unit. Roben Das |chairman and MD, Koochie Play Systems which manufactures playgroundequipment