Mumbai:
The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has developed a unique garden at Kalamboli based on a theme of Five Senses. This is the first-of-its-kind garden in the city with ultra modern facilities. The planning agency has spent Rs 1.5 core on the development of the garden.
"The garden is developed on 13,000 sq mtr plot near Kalamboli bus stand. The uniqueness of the garden is that we have not touched a single tree already planted on the periphery of the plot," said CIDCO's Garden Officer TR Kamble. The garden is divided into three parts like passive recreation area in the south, active recreation area in north and leisure walk way along the periphery, he said.
The passive recreation area is developed considering the needs of residents of the area. There is a three meter wide pathway for morning and evening walkers surrounding the central open space which has the theme garden. "The garden is developed to give the feel of five senses such as sound, touch, taste, vision and smell. For sound, we have used a fountain and a stream of water,
mimossa plant (touch me not) for touch,
karipatta and
tulsi for taste, jasmine for smell and rose plants for vision," Kamble said.
The active recreation area has the facilities like children play area, amphitheatre, free play area, outdoor seatout and food stall. The area dedicated for children play area is divided into two parts. One is specially carved out for the children below five years and other is for the children between five and 12 years. "The children play area is divided keeping in mind possible conflicts among children while playing. Parents can keep a watch on them from the seat outs provided along the play area," Kamble said.
The amphitheatre with capacity of 350 can be used for various social gatherings such as cultural programmes. "The overall development of the garden is environment-friendly as well as educative for children," he said. The entry fee of the garden for adults would be Rs 2 and for children from five to 12 years would be Re 1. Entry would be free for children below five years.
The garden will remain open for public from 5 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 9 pm. The rent for amphitheatre would be Rs 500 for two hours. "A similar garden has also been developed on a 16,000 sq mtr plot at sector 11 in New Panvel. It has all the facilities except for the theme," Kamble said.
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