The sun beats down on Sabbavaram, a mandal in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh, about 22 kilometres from Visakhapatnam. Here, under the shade of trees in a playground within an Anganwadi, a bunch of children in the age group of three to six years, clamber up a slanting wall made brightly-coloured repurposed tyres. Some others hang off a checkered climbing frame made of cut tyres.
This playground is one of the many being created under Project Play, the brainchild of 27-year-old IAS officer Dhatri Reddy, who is the Assistant Collector (UT) of Anakapalli district. The playgrounds are built mainly with recycled car and motorcycle tyres, encouraging kids to climb, slide and explore.
Five-year-old Tejaswini says the yellow tyre swing is her absolute favorite. “It’s so much fun; I can squeeze my body through the hole,” she giggles. “I love coming to the Anganwadi and play here every day,” she adds.
Project Play came into effect when Dhatri Reddy, who was posted as Assistant Collector (UT) of Anakapalli in 2022, went around the Anganwadis of the district and was appalled to see a dearth of playgrounds. “ None of the 58 centres I visited had playgrounds. These Anganwadis have children in the age group of six months to six years and play is a crucial element of learning for them. When children engage in unstructured play, they not only have fun but also develop creativity, problem solving skills and resilience,” says Dhatri adding that even well maintained centres closer to the city adopted by private companies under CSR funds, did not have play equipment.
Initially, she reached out to some non-governmental organisations for developing playgrounds. “The cost was prohibitively high to take up with limited government funds,” says Dhatri, a 2020 batch IAS officer of Hyderabad and BTech graduate from IIT Kharagpur.
As she brainstormed about building low-cost playgrounds, she hit upon the idea of upcycling used tyres and PVC pipes that were discarded at the rural water supply department.
“We finalised the playground designs with the contribution of the Panchayat Raj Engineering Department of Anakapalli district and began procuring old tyres from local shops, pipes and other elements. The engineering team along with nodal officer, Anganwadi workers, Venkatesh Jerripotula helped us execute these play elements in the most economical and standard way,” says Dhatri, who attributes the project’s success to District Collector Ravi Pattanshetti.
The vision became a reality in February 2023 with the first playground that was completed using about 40 discarded tyres – all locally sourced, cleaned, carefully inspected for anything that could cause injury, and painted in bright colours. It had elements like a tyre climber slide play station, tyre seesaw, one tyre seater and swing.
While the cost quoted to build playgrounds by private players was about ₹2.5 lakh each, under Project Play the team could make six playgrounds for less than the same cost.
Since then, 58 playgrounds in various mandals of Anakapalli district have been completed or are in different stages of completion under Project Play. “These playgrounds are sustainable and can be built in just a week’s time,” says Dhatri.
The playgrounds have made a lot of difference in the way the children associate with these Anganwadi centres. “We have seen behavioural difference among the children. They are less fussy, happier and a lot more energetic now,” says G Venkatalaxmi, an Anganwadi teacher.
While the concept of sustainability is at the heart of the playgrounds, the Project Play team have taken care to ensure there is no compromise on quality and durability. “We have more designs in mind, but I recommend against more experimentation as maintenance can be an issue. Sticking to the same designs would help them retain a standard while ensuring they last longer,” says the IAS officer.
Dhatri says her intention is to motivate more people to take this concept up for building playgrounds. “It’s really easy to replicate and you are helping the environment too,” she adds. “Every thing we learn as kids is from play. One of the best parts about these playgrounds is that they are now turning into common play spaces for children of the village and not just the Anganwadis. That is where kids learn to make friends, form social bonds and learn essential skills. It is of paramount importance to develop sensory skills in early child development,” says Dhatri.
