Chennai: A sprawling lawn, specially designed children’s park and playground, are some of the features in a sensory park which will soon be set up by the Chennai corporation at Santhome in the city.
It will come up in an area of 15,000 sq ft, and will be inaugurated in the next two months, said Harmander Singh, principal secretary, Municipal Administration.
The park will have tactile feedback platforms, which will respond to touch, along with a specially designed herb garden having plants with unique fragrances to stimulate children’s olfactory senses.
It will have exhibits which cater to all the five senses. these exhibits will also have Braille signboards. There is also a light and sound show in the works.
The park will also have wheelchair-friendly toilets, seats, special courts to play basketball and a large fish tank said a corporation official.
Parents and children alike welcomed the initiative and look forward to using the unique facilities. “Parks in the city aren’t usually designed for children with disabilities. Other children do not mingle with these children for various reasons and so these children are left to themselves. They feel lonely. So such places will enable special children to enjoy as much as others,” said a special educator in the city.
A traffic park is also being constructed at a cost of Rs two crore to educate children about traffic rules. Constructed in an area of 42,200 sq ft, the park will have signboards showing directions, concrete roads, light and sound halls, bus stops and traffic signals with LED lights.
“Both parks will have RO water facilities along with a sewage treatment plant and a rainwater harvesting unit. Children will be taught about the importance of such facilities too,” said Harmander.