Delhi Skaters Want Public Skateparks, Not Just Streets and Parking Lots

Delhi’s skateboarders marked Go Skate Day with their usual Sunday meet-up across NCR, a weekly ritual that has grown into a genuine community — but one still missing a basic piece of infrastructure: a proper public skatepark.

‘The need for public skateparks has still not received adequate attention,’ says Siddhant Dhankar, founder of Backyard Skatepark. ‘Most skaters in Delhi rely on private facilities, streets, parking lots, plazas and improvised spots. A public skatepark would make the sport far more accessible, fun and safe. It will allow more young people to participate regardless of their background or financial means.’

In the meantime, the community has adapted. Shashwat Sunil, co-founder of Mandi Monkeys, a group that skates at Mandi House metro station every evening, says ‘we don’t really have enough spaces, so we’ve learnt to make the city our skate park.’ He adds that the sport has brought together ‘artists, musicians, theatre people, corporate workers’ who might never otherwise cross paths.

For regulars, the Sunday sessions have become a fixture. Nishchal Singh, founder of the Delhi Skating Community, says the group welcomes beginners every week, with some members later volunteering to teach skating at NGOs. Karolina Bamotra, a Polish native in Delhi, joined after skateboarding back home and says it’s now one of the few things that gets her young children up early on a Sunday.

Nikita Jain, an interior designer who has skated with the group for nearly two years, says the sense of community is what keeps people showing up — even on days they can’t skate themselves. Until a dedicated skatepark materialises, Delhi’s skaters say they’ll keep making do with what the streets give them.