It was a Tuesday afternoon. Namima Binte Salma and Afraaz Zuhain Khan, two preschool children, were playing in a park at Lalmatia block-D. They appeared cheerful as they finally had the opportunity to take a breather out in the open, after a long time.

Both the children are lucky as they were allowed to enter the under-construction playground for a brief time following a request by their mothers -- Tanzila Aktar and Sabrina Sammi.

However, because the area is under renovation, most of the children do not have this opportunity.

Though the park is beautiful and has some children's rides, it is still closed due to development work that began more than two years ago.

"We have been robbed of a playground for the last two years," said Mohammad Ayan, a tenth grader.

The contractors have been saying for the last three months that they will open it to the public soon, but that day has yet to come, said a frustrated Ayan.

"I went to the playground with my younger brother a few days ago, but the playground's caretaker refused to let us in," said Mahir Subhan, a ninth grader of Lalmatia Housing Society School.

Imam Hossain, sub-contractor of the playground, said 90 percent of their work has already been completed, and they are now working to set up CCTV cameras and lights.

"We will soon hand over the park to the Dhaka North City Corporation, which has a playground, a kids zone, a cycle lane, a walkway, two galleries and two public toilets," he said.

Imam said they have failed to complete the work within the June 2022 deadline due to the pandemic.

The three other playgrounds where renovation work is ongoing are -- Trikona park at Lalmatia near Town Hall, Shahid Park and Sonali Playground at Mohammadpur.

"We are hoping to open these parks in the last week of February," said Mohammad Abul Kashem, project director.

He said there were 18 playgrounds and parks under the project which started in 2021, and they have already opened all except these four.

While visiting Trikona Park recently, it was found that development works were going on.

"We could not do our work for around two years as a foot-over bridge was supposed to be constructed under the initial plan. However, it was cancelled because 15 to 20 shops in the park would have to be demolished in order for it to be implemented," he explained.

It took a long time to get the decision on the footbridge, which caused them to miss the deadline, but they are now working hard to finish it within the next three months, according to Md Faisal, manager of the construction firm called Khandokar Shaheen Ahmed Firm. He said the park has a skating rink and walkways.

A similar story of delay can be seen in the case of Shahid Park on Azam Road in Mohammadpur.

Mohammad Shahid, a tea stall owner near the park, said there was a cricket academy in the playground. Besides, local children used to play all the time in the field. But the park hasn't hosted any youngsters in the last two years.

"We have completed 90 percent of the work. We'll soon open it to the public," said Md Al-Amin, manager of the construction firm Kabir Enterprise.

The condition of the Sonali field is also the same. However, some children can still access the ground in a limited capacity.

During a visit to the area, it was found a group of children were playing football in the field while some were playing in the playing zone.

Project Director Kashem said renovation works have been completed except for setting up toilet fittings.

"The toilet accessories were stolen after we installed them. Now we are setting it up again. We will open the playground in the last week of February," he said.