Kids kicked as neglected place becomes playground

Y Maheswara Reddy | NT

Once, a vacant space at Tulasi Thota also known as Chikka Lalbagh was a destination for organising protests by different organisations. This place was full of debris and garbage for the last few years, especially after cutting of many trees to facilitate the construction of Namma Metro station.

Now, the vacant space that was used for dumping all types of garbage and using an open toilet, has become a playground for the benefit of children and cricket enthusiasts from nearby areas around Majestic.

“It was full of debris. Many lazy and irresponsible people were using this place to attend nature’s call. It was very difficult to stand for a while at this place. I have to thank the volunteers of R Gundu Rao Foundation for converting this place into a playground,’’ said Madhukar Das, a resident.

According to the residents, the volunteers of R Gundu Rao Foundation have involved children and others who used to visit the vacant space to clear debris. “We have appealed to our MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao when he visited this area. We requested him to convert the neglected vacant land into a playground. Now, I am very happy to use this ground for playing cricket,’’ said Suhas Naidu, a member of Classic Boys.

He said the volunteers of R Gundu Rao Foundation have installed a gate to prevent misuse of the playground. “The volunteers have not only installed the gate but also handed the keys to us. We can open the gate whenever we want to play cricket on the playground,’’ he said.

Umesh Babu, a volunteer of R Gundu Rao Foundation has said that it took 11 days for them to clear debris and garbage from the vacant space. “There were 11 tipper loads of debris on the vacant land. We have involved around 60 children from the nearby areas for beautifying this black spot. We painted the compound wall and installed a new gate,’’ said Umesh Babu.

He has also said the volunteers of R Gundu Rao Foundation had distributed 53,000 ration kits to the needy people during the first wave and 38,000 ration kits in the second wave. “We continue to identify needy people and provide ration kits for them,’’ he said.