In a first, Navi Mumbai to get a park for special children

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is developing the park on a plot measuring 11,212 square metres at Sanpada with a budget of ₹6.7 crore

The first ever park for special kids and differently-abled people in Navi Mumbai is going to be ready by next month.

The park will be thrown open to the public by the end of February. (Bachchan Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is developing the park on a plot measuring 11,212 square metres at Sanpada with a budget of ₹6.7 crore.

If everything goes according to their plan, the park will be thrown open to the public by the end of February.

The park will be called Century Garden, a senior officer said.

Ramaswamy N, commissioner of NMMC, said, “We had hired a few good consultants before starting the project. Based on their suggestions, we started developing it step by step.”

“The park has been divided into three zones for the conveniences of the visitors. Zone A will be for different activities such as games and sports of the kids,” he said.

“Zone B will have an open lawn where a large crowd can assemble and hold discussions on different topics. This zone will also have a water pool,” Ramaswamy said. Zone C has a covered hall for multipurpose activities. There will also be a meditation centre and artificial ponds in this zone.

The garden will also have a 535 metre--long jogging track inside it.

Manoj Patil, executive engineer, NMMC said, “We will make the park disabled-friendly.”

The NMMC is also planting around 200 fruit-bearing trees and ornamental flowers in the park.

Patil said, “Visitors will be encouraged to touch the rocks and item on display, smell the flowers, listen to the soothing sound of the water pools, taste the fruits on the trees and see and feel the beauty of the park. So far, we have completed around 80% of our work and the remaining work will be finished in the next two to three weeks.”

The residents have welcomed the move.

GV More, 38, a resident of Sanpada said, “The NMMC had opened a similar ETC centre at Vashi a few years ago. But there is no such recreational place for such kids in Navi Mumbai. The civic body is doing a good job by developing such a park at Sanpada. We hope they will develop a few more parks at some other places in the city.”

The work for the park was started in May 2017.