Multanites Need More Playgrounds

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2018 ) :Seema Mir Incharge Feature Service Featrure An APP Feature By Tasawar Hussain It is a fact that playgrounds promote physical activity in youth and prevent them from resorting to negative trends so that their potential can be utilized in a healthy way.

Further,outdoor physical activity reduces the risk of psychological problems in children and boost their self-esteem. According to medical specialists ,the health benefits of physical activity are reduction of risk factors for disease ,achieving a peak bone mass and mental well-being.

So being well aware of the health benefits of playgrounds, residents of different colonies felt the that the playgrounds in the city were insufficient and they believe that the dearth might compel their younger family members to negative tendencies.

The majority of younger generation is already lost to the world wide web and the social networking platforms it was supporting through smartphones, laptop and desk top computers isolating them from the people around and connecting them to the strangers.Moreover,dearth of sports grounds in the city is discouraging but that doesn't stop the local talent from trying their youthful energy and skill on different sports.

They do it on roads and streets, mostly with the bat and ball. The city of over 1.8 million population has only fourteen (14) playgrounds, insufficient to meet the needs of a larger younger segment of 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 the situation can be judged from the fact that over 30 different teams play cricket every day at district sports ground located in the center of the city near Kalma Chowk and the jumbled pattern become 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 favorite game but unfortunately there was no proper place near his residence where he could play. Adnan Khan of Lodhi colony said that his son wanted to become a national cricketer but he could not continue his practice due to 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.

It is pertinent to mention here that most of the educational institutions in the city were not provide 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.

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

District Sports Officer Chaudhry Farooq Latif said that 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 utilized to provide sports activities to the youth of the city. He said that district sports department was organizing different events and competitions to polish local talent.

To create attraction for young talent, Punjab government has made an E-Library in the sports gymnasium from where information related to sports are available, he added. Different lectures of coaches, players and officers would be arranged in future to bring more improvement in young talent, he said adding, that several new playgrounds had been constructed by the concerned department.

He further said the network of playgrounds would be extended to all parts of the city to reduce the problems. APP/thh/smr (APP Feature Service)