‘Nature cures, not the physicians’ -- so said Hippocrates.
And this seems to be the inspiring idea behind the Delhi Development Authority’s vision of a ‘Sensory Park’ at Dwarka Sector 11 for disabled children.
Imagine a park where visually challenged children can touch different forms of leaves to learn about plants, a wheelchair-bound one can enjoy the swings, play with mud, or an autistic child can feel relaxed by watching birds and butterflies. This and much more sums up the objective behind setting up of DDA’s sensory park which is spread over 7.53 hectares and has been planned within an existing park.
In a first of its kind, the sensory park focuses on letting children with various forms of disability enjoy like normal ones and have positive engagements in “fun and learn” activities, stimulate their senses and develop motor skills.
Talking about the initiative, Additional Commissioner (Landscapes) Savita Bhandari said: “The park at Dwarka would be our pilot project. This park would be close to the Metro station. We want to have such parks in all zones in the city. From our interactions with various schools and parents, we realised that a separate special park for children with disability gets them into a cocoon. We want to increase their interaction with the normal children, to make them feel more confident.”
With all the groundwork done, the agency is ready to begin working on the project. But it is meeting resistance from residents of Dwarka who feel the project would spoil the existing green area.
“We are planning to bring this sensory park on 7.53 hectares area, within an existing park because starting from scratch would take a lot of time. However, the residents of Dwarka area have apprehensions that the project might impact the green recreational area. We want them to be assured that we would carry out the work in phases and the residents can continue using the park even as the work is on.”
“People should get consciously aware of it that this is the need of the time,” said Ms Bhandari.
Pramod Kumar, a resident of Dwarka sector 11 and a former general secretary of DDA SFS Flat Residents Welfare Association, however, said: “The DDA has chosen a park which has such high footfall with residents from not only Sector 11 but also other sectors coming here for recreation. This park is now famous as joggers’ park and in the mornings and evenings it is full of joggers. Creating a sensory park within this park which has a perimeter of 910 metre for jogging would be a hindrance for the disabled children as well as the normal people. The DDA could have chosen any other park. There are many parks in Dwarka, then why only this?”
Neelima Soni, Deputy Director (Landscapes), said the Landscapes Department of DDA has done a thorough study for the project and has even planned tactile pathways for the disabled in a fashion so that it does not restrict the movement of morning walkers as the area selected has a high footfall.
“The vision for the Sensory Park therefore has been to create a play space that is exciting and fun but also challenges the children’s perceptions, stimulates their senses and motivates them to practise their motor skills. The park has been designed with varying experiences in a continuum leading from one to another by textural pathways,” she said.
Ms. Soni said the department and the ministry concerned are now trying to rope in people who can make such objects like swings on which a wheelchair bound kid can also play.
The DDA said the objectives of the sensory park are: sensory stimulation, improving orientation and mobility and communication, developing coordination, improving balance and attention, developing motor skills, memory and reducing hypersensitivity.
The main attractions of the park for the little ones include:
Tactile Experiences: Sand and Mud Play area
The Park has a sand play and mud play area for providing tactile experiences to children, even those on wheelchair. In these areas, kids can get their own buckets and shovels and have a field day.
Textures
The pathway in the park would also offer tactile experience as different materials like murram, cobblestones, Braille, etc. would be put to use.
Feeling the plants
The shrubs planted near the pathways and the sitting areas will have varying textures so that the children can touch and learn about different types of plants.
Auditory experiences – Orchard
Fruit trees would be planted in an orchard to attract birds and thus will feed the auditory senses of the children.
Visual experiences – Butterfly Park, Flowering Trees
A small area has been designated as a Butterfly Park. It will be planted with varieties of flowering plants like hibiscus, justicia, hamelia, jatropha, bauhinias, erythrinas etc that will attract birds. In the flowering area, plantation would be done keeping in mind that the park should be seen in bloom throughout the year representing all the seasons to the children.
Areas for Motor Abilities – Play Area, Story Maze & Special Play Area
A small mound would be designed with steps and ramps as an amphitheatre and a play area with slides.
The flooring around the mound would be made with the various themes like: Night Sky, Snakes and Ladder and even a Solar System offering them a special play area to import knowledge. Story Maze would be an area with tactile tiles for children to walk over and decipher a story.
Horticulture Therapy – Therapeutic & Herbal Garden
The Park would also have area where kids can come and put plants.
Transition Areas
Transition area between various areas would design with elements which will help the visually challenged, the physically and mentally disabled to experience the change. The paving in the area is done in different colour and texture. Fragrant plants like Cestrum diurnum and others have been planted to mark the area with scent.
