New ‘All Abilities’ Kids’ park in Vizag hopes to draw more crowds

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has developed a park for children with disabilities in the city. Officials have spent over ₹ 3.5 crore for the park. They hope to draw more crowd in days to come. Disabled community in Andhra Pradesh says that this is indeed a great initiative.

A few days back, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) announced that they are gearing up to open an exclusive park for children with disabilities in the city. Now, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has announced that they developed a park for children with all abilities in the city. Reportedly, the civil body is becoming change-makers by introducing such a park. Government officials have now requested civic bodies from across the country to look into creating something similar for disabled children.

All praise for the park

Durga Shankar Mishra, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary of India visited the park earlier this month. He had only the best things to talk about the park.

Mishra has been quoted saying to The Times of India, “About 2.2 per cent of India’s population had some form of disability. This park is dedicated to such children. The park can be accessed by all differently-abled users, including visually impaired, hearing impaired, physical disability etc.”.

The many facilities at the park

Exclusive play equipment was introduced for disabled children in the park. Over 2156 square metres have been kept aside for this. Reportedly, GVMC has spent over Rs 3.5 crore on this project and other facilities. Officials have ensured that accessibility is given a lot of importance in the park.

Vasundhara Koppula, a disability rights activist from Hyderabad, has been working towards creating inclusive spaces in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “This is a great initiative. While officials are often busy creating exclusive spaces for disabled people, they must realise that inclusion is what is needed. Till date, I have not come across such facilities anywhere in Andhra or Telangana. That is why I think this park is going to benefit many kids”, she says.

The park has been getting a lot of positive responses ever since its launch. Officials hope more people would visit in days to come.

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