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Six months after completion, ₹6.7-crore sensory garden in Navi Mumbai yet to open
Although the sensory garden for children with special needs built by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) was completed six months ago, residents are miffed
Although the sensory garden for children with special needs built by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) was completed six months ago, residents are miffed with officials for not having opened it for the public yet.
Located at Sector 11 at Sanpada, the sensory garden is the first of its type to be developed in Navi Mumbai at a cost of ₹6.7 crore. Here, visitors can touch the rocks, smell the flowers and herbs and feel the textures of different plants.
NMMC mayor Jayawant Sutar said the garden will be inaugurated before the model code of conduct comes into force before the Assembly election.
“We are yet to decide the guest list but will surely open it [the park] for public soon,” said Sutar, without specifying a date.
The garden will help cope with developmental disorders by calming or stimulating the senses.
The park was conceptualised in 2016 and work started on it in 2017. It was completed in March this year.
“I fail to understand why the garden has still not been opened. It has been made with a purpose to benefit special kids; then, why this unnecessary delay?” said Vidya Nair, 34, a Sanpada resident.
Forty-year-old Ananya Mane, from Nerul, who has a daughter with special needs, said she has been eagerly waiting for the park to open.
“The garden has been made with a purpose. We see that it has been completed but we cannot access it,” said Mane.
Dr Varsha Bhagat, director for the department of Education and Training Centre (ETC) for children with different abilities who played a crucial role in developing the garden, said, “Our role is over. We have given all the necessary inputs for the garden and now it is the call mayor and civic chief when it would be inaugurated,” she said.
Ritesh Singh, 45, a Sanpada resident, said the civic body could have opened the garden for the public and later carried out a formal inauguration.
“This would help the children with special needs to access a space dedicated for them,” he said.
The NMMC sensory garden is split into three zones: a part where children can play games and sports; an open lawn, water body and a hall; and a meditation centre with an artificial pond.
It has visually appealing plants such as coleus, crotons and flowering vincas; plants with leaves of varying tastes like stevia (sweet), oxalis (sour), peppermint (minty), curry leaves (spicy), ajwain (bitter); plants with distinct smells such as patchouli, garlic-smelling ivy and tulsi; and plants with leaves of various textures such as gynura (soft, velvety), parijatak (rough) and touch-me-not plants.
The garden has been developed on 2,200 square metres.
