Collectorate Shishu Park, the only children's park in Chapai-nawabganj town, has not seen any renovation for nearly one and a half decades and remained virtually unusable.

Moreover, the park, meant for children's recreation, now serves as a grazing field for cattle, thanks to the negligence of the authorities concerned.

Though the children living in the town do not have any alternative for their healthy development, surprisingly the park has remained in an awful condition for years.

As the park hardly saw any repair work for long, it no longer attracts the children.

During a recent visit to the park, this correspondent saw some boys playing cricket while locals were grazing their domestic goats and cattle inside the park premises.

“As there is no scope to use the recreational items like swings and slides, we play cricket here,” ninth-grader Merajul Hasan said.

The district administration built the park on 1.68 acres of land in front of the deputy commissioner's office in the mid '80s to provide recreation facilities for the children, locals said.

During that time it offered various recreational equipments like swings and ladders and children could pass their time amid great fun, locals said, adding that the park is now in an awful condition as it hardly saw any renovation in the last one and a half decades.

“My son used to go to the park earlier, but due to its dilapidated condition he avoids it now,” Selim Reza of Shantibag area said, adding that due to the negligence of the authorities concerned, swings and ladders of the park have completely damaged.

“We enjoyed our childhood with huge amusement facilities as then there were many playgrounds for children. But now there is little empty spaces in the town for the children to play,” another Shahidul Huda of Poladanga area said.

Chapainawabganj Civil Surgeon Dr Saiful Ferdous Md Khairul Ataturk said recreation and playing time is much needed for healthy mental and physical growth of a child.

Chapainawabganj Deputy Commissioner AZM Nurul Haque said he will take necessary initiatives to renovate the park soon.