Public Parks from boon to bane and boon again.

In the late 70s, there was a huge clamor to create public parks in India, huge swaths of land lay empty and the growing population was demanding enclosed parks where one could walk in the serenity of nature or indulge in recreation without having to travel miles and also feel secure at the same time. Gate communities started writing to the government about how they had spaces earmarked for their won parks and also had the money to build them and all they needed was permission to build them without having to go through bureaucratic hoops that would result in wastage of time and also result in delays or even the death of the project itself.

The result was there for all to see, by 1984 the parks were visible all over the major cities in India, be it Delhi, Mumbai, Mysore, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and many more such metropolitan cities or ‘Mahanagar’ were now populated with public parks both big and small to bring in the much need move towards locality growth that heralds in a new era of socializing. The parks led to a new wave of fitness awareness in India, for this blog we shall concentrate on Delhi as an example.

The larger parks in Delhi were quite famous like Bonta Park, Lodhi Garden, perhaps the most famous was a par, memorial zone all rolled into one: India Gate. By the end of the ’80s, every small or big locality has a park where little children could run carefree, the elders could read or cut vegetables and watch over their young ones, the youth could jog or play sports and the senior citizens could spend their days talking and discussing issues. The fact that electricity in Delhi back then was always playing hide and seek resulted in these parks becoming second homes.

The early ’90s saw these parks being spruced up with swings and slides for the kids along with designated structures where one could sit in the shade and study or sleep, there were many parks that switched flowers according to seasons resulting insights to behold with smells that only nature can provide. This resulted in a generation that was accustomed to spending time in nature rather than being cooped in homes and was more inclined towards football, volleyball, kho-kho and the game that rules the heart of Indians to date: Cricket. You could find people holding on to their favorite spots so that they could indulge in their favorite pastime lest they have to spend the day waiting to play, in fact, some people would start grabbing their favorite cricket spots at 5 am and then play the game till late in the afternoon. The evenings were no different and you can bet that the little kids were just running around after each other or whatever caught their fancy with abandon. Life was truly great or was it?

By the end of the ’90s, the infrastructure in the said parks was falling apart, the ones maintained by the RWAs were still holding up pretty well, but the ones that were looked after by civic authorities were in a deplorable state. The pavements were totally gone, the fake animal grass displays were broken or stolen, the slides and swings had bowed down to the pressures of nature and were just pieces of rusting iron on which birds would go about their business, even the exercise poles had rusted away with their loops missing. The parks were now dens for drunkards, druggists, and people who indulged in nefarious activities. In some parks however the RWA has installed sheds to create make-shift gyms for their residents. After getting in touch with some gyms and Dumbbells Set Manufacturers the management had created a place where they could exercise and walk. These parks were still places brimming with social activities and children could jump around enjoying their time in nature with fun and frolic still taking place on the various swings and slides. The other parks had, however, become a bane.

By the early 2000s, the voices for revival of parks was taking shape, Salman Khan had literally pushed everyone onto the fitness bandwagon with one song and the growing menace of pollution and junk food had the young and old worried about fresh air, walking spaces combined with exercise zones all of which parks could provide. The civic apathy was met head-on unsocial elements were now being pushed out of parks by the citizens themselves, the message was loud and clear, if the authorities wouldn’t do it then the people will do it themselves.

The message did go out and the authorities launched a cleanup drive by the mid-2000’s it was a rule that you could not stop kids from playing in parks anywhere in India to enforce this the security in parks was amped up, unscrupulous elements were caught and it was ensured that they did not return. Parks were lines with beautiful pavements, the swings and slides were added again, exercise points were created,  amazing fountain displays were created where people could gather in the summer months and enjoy the small droplets of cool water falling on them giving them a much-needed relief from the searing summer heat. The parks were beginning to be a boon for the public again.

Public parks in Delhi these days are much more than just walking areas, there is a lot more going on. Various flowers and trees are planted so as to educate children about the virtues of planting trees. Many tulsi and neem plants are planted so that the public makes use of them. There are several concrete structures where one can gather for social gatherings or even have group studies in the open. The structures also provide relief for traveling salesman during the harsh summer months. Almost all parks now have purified water coolers to serve the public.

A recent experiment of installing Rubber Flooring has met with great success, there was early opposition as people were ignorant about its uses but the present scenario has many people demanding that either rubber-based flooring or Rubber Flooring Tiles be installed in their parks. The Rubber gives a cushion that enables longer periods of walks without stressing out the knees and ankles and it is also great for sprinters, thus giving an overall beneficial exercise to walkers, joggers and runners alike.

Parks all over Delhi have now been equipped with public usage gyms to create awareness about fitness and incentivize people to step out of their homes and work out in the open air. Open-air workouts have a far greater health advantage over enclosed areas, not only does it promote socializing it also helps the body create more healthy red blood cells thus creating a higher supply of oxygen for the body. These gyms are placed on concrete surfaces paved with Interlocking Rubber Flooring Tiles that protect the flooring from withering away due to the friction and also provide for anyone exercising or using skipping ropes on them.

Parks are the lifeline of any city, save them and give the future generation a gift to cherish.