Month since 4-yr-old’s death, public gym equipment overhaul pending

More than a month after a four-year-old boy died when exercise equipment in an open-air gym collapsed on him in a municipality-run park in Moti Nagar, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has yet to initiate the annual maintenance of such equipment across the city.
Instead of addressing the issue with repairs, field workers have reportedly been instructed to dismantle “any defective equipment” in order to prevent further accidents, officials familiar with the development said.
A senior MCD official revealed that while a tender has been issued for the maintenance of children’s play equipment, the proposal for an annual maintenance contract for open-air gym equipment remains stuck in the process of administrative approval. Consequently, no repair work has commenced on the ground for either category.
MCD has 15,226 parks spread over an area of 5,172 acres across the city. Among these, around 1,500 parks are equipped with children’s play equipment, while 1,200 house open-air gyms featuring fitness machines.
These gyms typically include warm-up units such as Tai Chi spinners and standing twisters, moderate exercise units like leg presses and cross-trainers, and heavy exercise units such as chest presses and dumbbell benches. Each unit typically costs ₹7- ₹8 lakh and large number of them area sponsored by MP/MLA Local Area Development (MP/MLA LAD) funds due to popularity.
Residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) have criticised the deteriorating state of these facilities.
Atul Goel, who heads URJA – an umbrella body of RWAs in Delhi – stated that both open gyms and children’s swings are in disrepair.
“No change has happened on ground. Damaged ball bearings and broken sections are left untouched. The protective tile flooring has worn off in so many parks, but it has never been replaced,” he added. “The whole system of annual maintenance has collapsed and more such accidents may happen in future.”
During a spot check on Tuesday, HT found numerous damaged installations in parks across areas such as Chirag Dilli, Hauz Khas, and Ber Sarai, where children continued to use broken equipment.
A municipal official said that repairs for children’s play equipment, supported by ₹1.7 crore in funds, are expected to begin soon. “The older iron slides and swings will be taken down,” official added.
However, a second official pointed out that many budgetary allocations related to park maintenance, particularly under the horticulture department, were reduced to zero in the last annual budget, further hampering upkeep.
BS Vohra, who heads the east Delhi RWA joint front said that the east Delhi parks are similarly neglected. “East MCD was already facing financial crisis before the merger. We find that often these installations lack regular maintenance or repair. They are rusted or have loose bolts. Such instances can happen anytime at any site,” he added.
When contacted, an MCD official said, “In case of maintenance of the play equipment, a tender has been issued. No, repair work has started on ground. It is expected to begin soon.  An SOP has been issued for the disposal of broken children’s play items.”