20 December,2025 06:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Sanjeev Shivadekar
(From left) Sportspersons Luis Suárez, Lionel Messi, Sachin Tendulkar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Argentine football player Rodrigo De Paul at Wankhede Stadium on December 14. PIC/x/@Dev_Fadnavis
As Mumbai continues to lose its playgrounds, it is quickly earning the dubious distinction of becoming a BOAT (Baddest of All Time), and a city that turns into a BOAT can never raise a GOAT (Greatest of All Time). Even if Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, with good intentions, launches ambitious sports initiatives, such as mission Maha-Deva, in the presence of global icons Sachin Tendulkar and Lionel Messi, good intentions alone cannot replace ground reality.
In 2011, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) spoke of exploring the possibility of building a sports centre in every ward. Fourteen years later, nothing has moved on this front. Instead, new playgrounds have been steadily disappearing, leaving children with fewer places to play. The gap between big promises and real action is glaring.
Even a BJP office-bearer from Mumbai has flagged the crisis in writing, noting that the city offers barely 1.1 to 1.24 square metres of open space per person, far below the World Health Organisation's minimum nine square metres and the United Nations' recommended 30 square metres. It is a brutal reminder of how open spaces have been sacrificed in the race to build.
Official data paints an equally grim picture. According to BMC figures cited in media reports, Mumbai's 1.4 crore residents must share just 359 playgrounds, 404 recreational grounds and 346 gardens. For a city that claims to dream big, this shortage exposes a failure at the most
basic level.
Not long ago, almost every neighbourhood had a maidan or open plot. Children played with a rubber ball, football barefoot, without any fees or membership to be paid. That is how many great sportspeople began their journey. Today, that simple world has nearly disappeared. Towering buildings rise everywhere, while open grounds are disappearing at a rapid pace. Even within housing complexes, open spaces are vanishing. Lakhs of children are left with nowhere free to run and play rubber ball cricket or football barefoot.
Mumbai's own GOAT, Bharat Ratna awardee Sachin Tendulkar, speaking at the Mission Young & Fit India event, noted that free land is now built over almost instantly and urged that sports grounds be treated as heritage spaces. It is a warning that is hard to ignore.
Ironically, political leaders often speak the language of sport. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the opening ceremony of the Khelo India School Games, said sports must occupy a central place in the lives of India's youth. Recently, Fadnavis reiterated his desire to produce world-class sportspersons from Mumbai and Maharashtra under mission Maha-Deva. The words sound promising. But the reality on the ground paints a different picture.
With no free grounds available in the city, parents are left with two options: send their children to gaming zones inside malls or pay heavily to use turfs or gymkhanas.
Many of these turfs are built on BMC-owned or public open spaces, often operated without proper permission from the civic administration, despite charging steep hourly fees, making sports accessible only to those who can afford it.
What happens to talent in slums, chawls, and middle-class housing societies? What about the child who has the skill but no money? We may never know how many future Sachins, Dhonis, Virats or Mary Koms were lost simply because they had no place to play.
Mumbai is called the city of dreams, but for many young sportspeople, it is slowly turning into a city of broken dreams. The irony is hard to miss. We spend crores on grand stadiums for big events, we hear slogans about Khelo India and Olympic glory, yet ignore the most basic need at the grassroots level: free playgrounds for children.
Sports cannot survive without grounds, and real talent cannot grow inside closed walls. Thus, it is amply clear that GOATs are made on maidans, not in malls or on turfs. But by wiping out open spaces and turning play into a paid privilege, we are quietly stealing the future of Indian sport.
The long term impact of this neglect is serious. Children are becoming less active, less fit, and more stressed. Also, lifestyle diseases are beat a younger age.
If Mumbai and neighbouring cities, such as Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayander, and Vasai-Virar, are to produce world-class sports personalities, the solution is simple, but strong political will is essential.
With municipal elections approaching, the political leadership has an opportunity to match intent with action. Fadnavis, his party, and allies - especially Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the urban development (UD) department - governing municipal corporations must prioritise the creation and protection of open spaces. Manifestos should not merely promise playgrounds, but also ensure they are protected from encroachment and accessible to the public free of cost.
And, yes, don't just mention, but ensure effective implementation of promises. This is not charity. It is an investment in the health, fitness, and future of the next generation and in producing great sportspersons.
In the end, those at the helm must decide whether they want Mumbai to remain a BOAT for children's play or transform it into a city capable of producing GOATs.
Sanjeev Shivadekar is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @SanjeevShivadek
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