Bhubaneswar's first sensory park for differently-abled to open soon

BHUBANESWAR:  The State Capital will soon get a dedicated recreational facility for the differently-abled with the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) completing construction of ‘Sensory Park’ at Saheed Nagar.

Taken up by the BSCL under its Smart City programme, the one of its kind park has several components meant to ensure safety of differently-abled persons of all age groups while they spend quality time there.

Developed with an investment of Rs 93 lakh over an area of .37 acres (16,117 square feet), the park has insulated pathways, playing equipment for children, open-air gym, and other child-friendly facilities that comply with the universal access guidelines.

“The rides and equipment in the park have safety features and the ground is covered with soft synthetic lining or sand to provide the specially-abled kids a safe and beautiful ambience to play and learn,” said BSCL CEO Sanjay Kumar Singh.

The open-gym equipment in the fully-equipped park will encourage both children and adults with special needs to remain fit and smart, Singh said and added that it will be opened soon. Work on the Sensory Park, designed by the Bhubaneswar Urban Knowledge Centre (BUKC), was started in 2018 but was delayed over legal issues and outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

BSCL General Manager Kamaljit Das said the children’s rides inside the park includes facilities such as wheel-chair swing, two-seater swing, bucket swing, multiline swing, single seater spring rider, musical poles, sound play, drum track, musical panel, sound play table, shoulder builder, three-seater ground-level merry-go-round (MGR), multi-seater MGR, wheelchair MGR, slides and two-seater spring see-saw, among other things.