Dearth of playgrounds discouraging physical activity

MULTAN: Being well-aware of the health benefits of playgrounds, residents of different colonies feel that the recreational spaces were insufficient in the city. They believed that the dearth might compel their younger family members to negative tendencies.

Moreover, the dearth of sports grounds in the city is discouraging, but that doesn't stop the local talent from trying their youthful energy and skill at different sports. They do it on roads and streets, mostly with the bat and ball.

The city of over 1.8 million has only 14 playgrounds, insufficient to meet the needs of a larger younger segment of the population. The playgrounds and indoor playing facilities that adorn the city landscape include district sports ground, football ground, hockey ground, basketball court, sports gymnasium, MCC ground, Safqaat sports complex, Ayub cricket stadium, Emerson college ground, BZU ground, Nishtar ground, Qasim Bagh stadium and Muslim Public school and college ground.

Gravity of situation

The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that over 30 different teams play cricket every day at district sports ground located in the centre of the city near Kalma Chowk and the jumbled pattern becomes more complex on holidays. The same situation was being noticed in other playgrounds of the city. And those who fail to find space on playgrounds, move either to roads and street or to vast spaces of private housing schemes in the suburbs of the city that are incomplete but plots are demarcated. There were so many housing colonies in the city where there is no space for sports activities despite clear directions by Multan Development Authority (MDA).

The young talent was moving to other big cities for more opportunities in sports because of low space for sports activities in Multan. A local cricketer Majid Ali said that cricket was his favourite game but unfortunately there was no proper place near his residence where he could play. Similarly, Adnan Khan of Lodhi Colony said that his son wanted to become a national cricketer but he could not continue his practice due to the shortage of playgrounds. He said that he was also planning to move to Lahore for future of his son. Parents complained that owing to the absence of playgrounds, they did not allow their kids to play in the streets because that could be dangerous for them.

Most of the educational institutions in the city were not providing the playing facilities to the students, which was irksome for the young people. The parents have expressed concern over the lack of playgrounds and urged the officials concerned to provide schools with space which could be used for healthy activities by the students.

Asif Shabir said a large number of schools are being run in small houses of residential areas and these are not able to provide students with grounds. The situation forces the students to use green areas and streets as playgrounds, which create problems for locals.

District Sports Officer Chaudhry Farooq Latif said there is a cricket ground, a hockey ground, two football grounds (one more is under construction), a gymnasium for indoor sports and a wrestling arena under its supervision. He stated that all possible resources were being utilised to provide sports activities to the youth of the city. He said that district sports department was organising different events and competitions to polish local talent. To create an attraction for young talent, the Punjab government has set up an e-Library in the sports gymnasium from where information related to sports is available, he added. Different lectures of coaches, players and officers would be arranged in future to bring more improvement in young talent, he said. He added that several new playgrounds had been constructed by the concerned department. "The network of playgrounds will be extended to all parts of the city to reduce the problems."

Benefits of physical activity

Playgrounds promote physical activity in youth and prevent them from resorting to negative trends so that their potential can be utilised in a healthy way.  According to doctors, physical activities reduce the risk factors for disease and help achieve mental well-being. Outdoor physical activity reduces the risk of psychological problems in children and boosts their self-esteem.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2018.