The residents of Golapbagh and nearby Dholpur allege that some local people have occupied the only playground in the area for parking their vehicles.

"There are a lot of places to use as parking lot or motor workshop. Why this playground? The owners of buses and rickshaws can use other places," said Shahid Malik, a 55-year-old resident of Golapbagh under DCC's ward 85.

"Our children are forced to play on the road risking their life as there is no available space in this area. DCC should take proper initiatives to free this playground immediately," said Rezaul Haque, a resident of Dholpur.

Rickshaw owner Saiful Islam, when asked why he is using the Dhaka City Corporation's (DCC) playground illegally for keeping his 40 rickshaws, said: "Two years ago I started keeping my rickshaws in the field because it was of no use."

Kamal, owner of three buses, has been using a portion of the playground as motor workshop for about one and a half years. "As there was no space for keeping buses, I began to use the field taking permission from the local ward commissioner," he claimed.

Abdul Kader, who owns 30 buses, was reluctant to talk with this correspondent about the illegal use of the place for parking his vehicles. "We have been using this field for the last three years. Your report will not make any change," he said.

Locals said all who use the playground pay toll to the local ward commissioner's office. "Every month I pay Tk 3,000 to the commissioner's office for using the field. Without giving the toll, I could not use it," said a rickshaw owner.

This correspondent could not contact local ward commissioner Badal Sarkar for his comments as he was abroad. Habibullah Sarkar, an official of the commissioner's office denied the allegation. "We are not involved in such toll collection," he said.

Asked why the commissioner's office allow the rickshaw and motor owners to use the playground, Habibullah could not give satisfactory answer.

A senior official of the Estate Department of DCC on condition of anonymity said the playground was made free from illegal occupation of bus and rickshaw owners last year but they returned within one month of the eviction. He said the illegal occupants came back in connivance with the people at the commissioner's office.

Abu Taleb, the chief estate officer of DCC, said the real problem is that the encroachers come back as soon as the DCC eviction staff leave the place. "We have planned to evict buses and rickshaws from the place by the end of this month," he said.