Let us give some breathing space to the kids and their grandparents!

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