Children wait for the toy train to start at Sidho-Kanhu Park in Ranchi on Sunday. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi’s Sidho-Kanhu Park is all set to take a green ride this summer.

The park, spread on 10 acres behind the state capital’s SKIPA building, will soon boast an eight-bogie toy train running on solar energy, the tracks for which are being laid. A solar-powered musical fountain will also be added.

Sources said the ambitious project, which is being executed by Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (JREDA) in collaboration with Jharkhand State Forest Development Corporation Limited, is expected to be completed by the last week of April, just before Ranchi schools close for summer vacations.

Speaking to The Telegraph on Sunday, project officer of JREDA Bimlendu Kumar Rai said that construction was at its last phase.

“Work has been going on for the past 12 months at a steady pace. We are expecting the toy train and the fountain to start functioning by the first week of May. The entire park will be powered by solar energy then,” Rai said.

He, however, refused to give the total cost of the project, stating that the tenders had been floated around a year ago to convert the premises into an “energy park”. But sources pegged the figure at around Rs 3 crore.

The park, inaugurated in 2005, is a favourite haunt for morning walkers, and sees an average daily footfall of 400. The number shoots up to almost 700-1,000 during weekends.

According to Rai, the aim behind converting the premises into an energy park was to educate both children and adults about the importance of renewable solar energy, which, if tapped, can be put to daily use.

Echoing Rai, Sidho-Kanhu Park’s range officer Prasun Kumar said that the new gift would attract both children and adults.

“The park already boasts a number of rides and slides. But the toy train will definitely be that extra attraction for children,” Kumar hoped.

He added that the park already had lights and was a major hub for picnickers, who used its two parabolic solar panels to cook food.

Regular visitors like Vinita Singh were elated and hoped that the project would be ready soon.

“I come here often with my kids, who frequently throw tantrums wanting to take a ride on the yet-to-be-started toy train. Seeing the pace at which work is progressing, I have told them that they will soon be able to hop on to the miniature train and take a ride of the park,” Singh, who had made her way to the park from Morabadi along with her husband and two children, said.

Ranchi Women’s College’s Dolly Kumari, who, like Singh, loves to visit the green address, said that the authorities were setting a good example by switching over to renewable sources of energy.

“It will help educate the residents about solar power, which is renewable and non-polluting,” Kumari said.

More good news.

The entry fee even after the new additions will remain the same at Rs 10 per head.