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 has yet to initiate the annual maintenance of such equipment across the city. 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. Among these, around 1,500 parks are equipped with children’s play equipment, while 1,200 house open-air gyms featuring fitness machines. “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.