Spider rope climbers, caterpillar balance beams, beehive spiral tunnels are among a series of interactive structures themed around insects that will feature in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s latest children theme park that is coming up in Rohini.
A senior municipal corporation official said the bids for setting up the insect theme park have been invited and the process is likely to be completed by March 20. “We will spend around ₹2.3 crore on the park which will have large sculptures and play equipment designed in the shape of insects. The structures will help children learn about different insects, their structure and the role they play in the nature,” an MCD official said.
He said after the completion of the bidding process, the park will take four months to complete.
According to the project report of the insect theme park, a copy of which HT has seen, it will host 28 large installations on the theme of various insects such as a spider rope climber with play modifications around the legs of a giant arachnid, slides shaped as ants, caterpillar balance beams and beehive spiral tunnels among others. “Just like innovative alterations have been made to the giant dinosaur replicas in the dinosaur park at Sarai Kale Khan, these structures will have swings, slides, climbing nets, tunnels and wall-holla weaved into the central insect replicas. This will be one of the first such parks to come up in this series,” the first official said.
MCD has also kept a separate section for abled children with provision of play stations, merry go rounds and arch double swings which can accommodate wheel chairs. Unlike the dinosaur park, the structures will not be made out of metallic waste. Artists will use other material to build replicas of grasshoppers, butterflies, caterpillars, worms, spiders, lady bugs, bees, dragonflies, etc.
The horticulture wing will also install statues and paintings of the comic book superheroes such as Spiderman and Antman. “The park will also have sitting areas shaped like insects and flowers,” the official added.
On February 29, HT reported that MCD was planning 10 such parks each with a unique theme. The official quoted above said that after the insect theme park, an aeroplane park will be come up in north-west Delhi’s Kehsavpuram and an Octopus park will be made in Rohini Sector 21.
The erstwhile South MCD had developed its first Children’s park as “Nandan Van” in Greater Kailash-1 N-Block in 2018 with cartoon anime and animal themes at a cost of ₹1 crore. Now, the MCD is aiming to develop at least one such park in each of its administrative zones so that children across the city have access to at least one such facility in their region.
The ten locations which have been finalised by the MCD include the park above the Hauz Khas multilevel parking in the South zone, SU block park in Pitampura under Keshavpuram zone, Sector 21 park in Rohini for Narela zone, a portion of historic Qudsia Bagh under City Sadar Paharganj zone and a park near Ganga Ram Hospital Rajendra Nagar for the Karol Bagh zone.The other sites selected for the project include Vikaspuri, NDMC apartment in west, Swasthya Vihar near Scope minar in east Delhi, Bhagat Singh Park Mukherjee Nagar near Civil Lines zone and central park Dilshad Garden for Shahdra North.
MCD manages more than 15,226 parks across twelve civic zones but the number of parks meant specifically for children remains low. Over the years, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights as well as the Delhi high court asked the corporation to ensure that there is place for children to play in the parks. At present, only designated corners for children exist in MCD parks at 1,300 sites.
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