Seven-year-old Ahin went to Dhaka’s Shishu Park along with his parents last Friday, excited about trying out all of the rides. But bad weather caused authorities to shut down 10 of the 12 rides for several hours.
Ahin and his parents went to the park’s information office and waited for the rides to re-open.
A park official told them there was a risk in operating some of the rides during the bad weather. So hundreds of children, including Ahin, waited gloomily as their weekend fun was dampened by the rain.
Shishu Park, established in 1979, is the only public sector children’s amusement park in Dhaka city. Occupying 15 acres of land, it is the first amusement park in Bangladesh.
A park insider said the government earns more than Tk2 crore a year from the park.
The oldest rides at the park are the chair tower, merry-go-round, flower cup ride, wonder wheel, trampoline, train, battery car, and roller skating rink which were installed by Japanese technicians back in 1979 with a warranty period of ten years.
Since the warranty of eight rides at the park expired some 25 years ago, replacing parts may no longer be possible. A proposed renovation and extension project has not been approved yet, but it will start soon, said an official of the park.
He said there had never been any deadly accidents and the rides have run without any major disturbance so far. But that did not mean that the equipment was not risky, he said.
Zakir Hossain, assistant engineer of the park, said: “There is nothing to worry about. We do weekly machinery maintenance.”
A ride operator said no renovation work, apart from routine checks, had been carried out in the 35 years since it was established. He said: “In the rainy season, most of the rides remain closed.”
During festival holidays, more than sixty thousand people visit the park. But with competition from private amusement parks, Shishu Park officials feel the necessity to introduce new rides and to renovate the park to attract visitors.
The park is home to two historical monuments. The site of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic speech given on March 7, 1971, and the site where the Pakistan Eastern Command signed the Instrument of Surrender marking the end of Indo-Pakistani hostilities during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 are both on its grounds.
A park official said: “Because of a High Court rule protecting the historic sites, we cannot renovate the park area without government permission.”
Shishu Park was handed over to the Dhaka City Corporation for maintenance in 1983. The DCC proposed expanding the area of the park from 15 to 19 acres by removing the police control room adjacent to it. The proposal to remove the police control room was accepted and the room removed, but further proposals to extend the park’s grounds have not yet been accepted.
Ahin’s parents told the Dhaka Tribune: “We came here to make our children happy and for their recreation. If the rides are risky or are shut down for long periods, then the weekend is wasted. Shishu Park is a cost-effective and fun park with a good safety record so far. I hope, for the sake of the children, that the authorities take care of it.”