Tyres turn into colourful playgrounds in Anganwadis of Anakapalli district in Andhra Pradesh

Project Play, a brainchild of 29-year-old IAS officer Dhatri Reddy, creates 58 playgrounds in Anganwadi centres of Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh using discarded tyres

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.