Bhubaneswar: The urban development authority plans to construct a park for the children at Patia.

This will be the second such facility for the children in the city, after the one at Unit-II. The Bhubaneswar Development Authority has floated a tender to select an executor who will complete the work in nine months.

The general administration department has already handed over a six-acre plot to the urban development authority for the purpose. The park will be built at a cost of Rs 7.56 lakh.

"The residents of Patia have long been demanding for such a facility for children. So, we have decided to develop a vacant plot of land into a park. Once the tender gets finalised, it will take nine months to complete the work," said an official of the development authority.

The park will have all kinds of facilities for the children - ranging from play areas to rides such as the merry-go-round, swings and slides.

Local residents welcomed the decision. "Our children will be benefited by the decision," said Namita Ojha, a homemaker.

At present, the city has more than 50 small and big parks scattered across various area. But very few of them have facilities exclusively meant for children aged between five years and 12 years. A source in the development authority said that a plan was afoot to come up with another such facility at VSS Nagar.

In its smart city proposal, the city administration focused on developing more child-friendly infrastructure in the city. A workshop in this regard was also held recently where officials decided to make all the parks more child-friendly, with introduction of open library, splash pool and natural mounds.

"We have already partnered with a Germany-based agency and are taking steps to bring in more child-friendly infrastructure for the city," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

"Though this upcoming park is not a part of the smart city proposal, it is aimed at our objective to become the country's first child-friendly city," he said.