Directions to make kids’ park safer ignored: HC

NEW DELHI: Justice Kurian Joseph had shot off a second letter to the court-appointed amicus curiae in February highlighting the deplorable state of children’s parks in the city.
The Supreme Court judge, currently in the eye of a storm over a letter to the Chief Justice of India and the Prime Minister over a seminar during the Easter holidays, had expressed his “anguish” in the note mentioning that even as HC, in April last year, paid attention to make children’s parks safer, negligence by agencies led to two deaths.
Due to negligence, a five-year-old child had died in a park in New Moti Nagar, while an advocate Gaurav Rana died from electrocution in another park in the city.
This was disclosed to a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw recently by senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, the amicus, leaving the court shocked. HC agreed with the points raised by Justice Joseph and noted that even the court’s directions issued in July and October last year have not been complied with.
“Our personal awareness of the parks in the vicinity of our residences also does not demonstrate any improvement therein. It is quite evident that even the little which the agencies who have at least filed their responses/affidavits in these proceedings, claim to have done is also only on paper and has not translated on the ground,” the Chief Justice’s bench observed.
It has also warned the brass of DDA, NDMC and the three corporations that they will hauled up before court if personal interest at the highest level is not taken in making children’s playgrounds safer. “We are sure that it is not as if there are no provision and funds for proper maintenance of the parks. It appears to be only a case of lack of will of the officials concerned. We are sure that each of the said agencies must be having a huge budget for maintenance and upkeep of the parks. We wonder where all that money goes,” the bench added in a scathing observation.
It also directed the heads of the agency to “wake up from their slumber” and furnish the details of budget allocations with respect to the said parks and how it was utilized. In further directions, the court has ordered the North Corporation to explain why the five-year-old child died in a park in New Moti Nagar. The child had sustained injuries on head and chest from the iron bar of the swing. The corporation has also been asked to repost if any preventive measures have been taken in the park.
The high court issued similar directions to the corporation on the death of advocate Gaurav Rana in a park at Vaishali near Pitampura. Rana was electrocuted by a live wire in the park.
On Thursday, amicus Nidhesh Gupta handed photographs of over 15 parks saying instead of being grassy and green, these are all patches of katcha uneven land with neither proper vegetation nor cleanliness.