Urbanisation has
robbed the kids and senior citizens of their sweet time. While kids have lost
their childhood in the emerging trend of city life, senior citizens lack the
much needed calm environment around them.
In the last two
decades India has seen unprecedented migration of its citizen, from one part of
the country to other part, from villages to the cities in search of better job opportunities and better life. Millions
of us from villages left our homes and have preferred to settle in cities. The
cities which used to be sparsely populated are now brimming with people, drawn
from every part of our society, from every religion, with different languages
and different geographical locations. This shift has helped India in better
understanding of each other, better understanding of common issues and integrating
the ordinary Indians together in raising a stronger voice for addressing of their
issues and concerns.
While urbanisation
has helped millions of us in realising our dreams to some extent, it has also
resulted in the sorry state of the cities. Increasing population has put lot of
strain on the cities, their infrastructure and on the people themselves. Cities
have expanded in terms of bigger buildings, malls, hotels and big institutions
but infrastructure didn’t develop to cater to the basic needs of the increasing
population. Authorities didn’t give much thought in planning and developing the
cities. Slowly, the open areas and green cover in most of the cities have been
lost and what remains is the concrete jungle with concrete flyovers and asphalt
roads leaving little for the people to breathe free and relax in the open!
Urbanisation has
changed us a lot. In the hard pressed life of today, whenever we get some time
to spend with family, we either rush to cinema hall or to a mall or to a
restaurant. We keep running and keep spending to entertain and relax ourselves!
As a grown up urban adult, our requirements are totally different from that of
the kids and the senior citizens, say our parents. While we keep busy ourselves
in our occupation, we don’t have much time to ourselves and hence today we
don’t even get the time to feel the absence of open spaces!
I wonder how much we
have changed. As a child, we used to play hours together in the open fields
without any attention of the parents. Parents too didn’t bother much as they knew
that their child is in the vicinity and nothing untoward will happen. Today our children are deprived of such
luxury. There are no open spaces, no fields and no parks. I pity that they are
growing up without much physical activity. We all want our children to be
healthy and robust, to be cheerful and energetic, to be creative and original.
Unfortunately, we do not have the time and infrastructure for indulging them in
such activities. Very few children might be getting such an opportunity. We, as
a parent, do not allow our children to go out and play on the road and we must
not – as it is not safe. The only alternative then remains is to keep them
confined within the closed spaces of our flat and switch on the TV or Computer
games for them. It is a compulsion for both – the parents as well as the
children. Such situation is only going to make them weak and stunt their growth
– mentally as well as physically. It is true for the aged people, who remain
confined within the comfort of their home.
In any city in India,
for that matter it is Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad or a specific locality like ours
– in Chandkheda, I don’t find parks and playgrounds that caters to the needs of
young kids, say upto twelve years of age. Similarly, for the senior citizens
too I don’t find any such open space for them to relax and share quality time
with their grandsons, granddaughters and their friends. Some cities can boast
of parks and gardens, but they are very few in numbers compared to the requirement
based on population of the area. Parks and gardens are also generally away from
the residential areas and hence inaccessible to the general public and
particularly to the kids and the aged people.
Mumbai has only 2.5%
open space in cities in terms of gardens, parks, including open parking spaces.
which translates to about 1.95 square meter per person. Cities like Chandigarh
and Delhi are better off with about 35% and 20% open space respectively. If we
calculate open space available for the kids and citizens, it would it would be
mere fraction of the above percentages. As far as Ahmedabad
is concerned, as per a TOI report (Jun 9, 2013) the open space in Ahmedabad city
is merely 2% which translates to just 0.42 square meter area of open space per
person, far below of the specified standard of 8-10 sq m per person as per
Urban Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) guidelines.
With increasing
urbanisation, and the way infrastructure is being developed, the problem is
going to compound with time. It is high time that the Municipal Corporations and
the AUTHORITIES wake up to the needs of the kids and the senior citizens and
the issues are addressed for a better life for them. Let the kids begin their
journey full of happiness in the open surroundings and let the aged sum it up
living blissfully in the company of their kids and friends in a serene
environment.
madhukarmohan@gmail.com
madhukarmohan@gmail.com
