Guardians lounge on the lawn as kids hit the play pen.

If you’re looking to take the kids for an outing this weekend, look no further than New Town. The Eco Tourism Park there has recently opened a wing — a children’s park — that is both beautiful and stocked with fun activities for the little ones.

If approaching from the Salt Lake side, the entrance to the children’s park comes after crossing the main park.

Like the bigger one, this park too is a feast to the eyes. The lawns are manicured, there are fountains and an artificial waterfall that empties into a stream and this stream flows all around the park. There are big sculptures of mer-people and several life-size sculptures of alligators and tortoises in the stream.

The landscape has flats and hillocks for children to run about as well as beautiful bridges over the stream. The walkway is done up with pebbles but they are rooted to the ground so it is not difficult to walk over. There are several abstract statues and painted rocks installed all over too.

The artificial waterfall that forms a stream around the park. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha

“We have built statues to project the mother-child relationship as we figured it would be mothers who would bring the children here,” says Rupchand Kundu, the painter and sculptor who conceptualised the park. There have been built 30 to 40 seats for guardians around the park, some under pagoda-like sheds but many parents were seeing relaxing on the lush green grass instead.

“The play area seems safe and beautiful. I’ll try to bring my five-year-old here once a week,” said Sumana Banerjee, a resident of the nearby Rupasree apartments. “At Rs 10, the entry fee is affordable and having an entry fee will ensure the crowd is decent and that the park is maintained.”

In the evening, multi-coloured lights come up and one can’t miss the instrumental Rabindrasangeet playing in the background. A food stall lies in a cave-like opening under the waterfalls. “The falls and stream are inspired by the Teesta river. In fact, the pebbles are all brought from there. We brought 25 trucks, each carrying 40 tonnes of pebbles for this park,” smiles Kundu.

The carpet grass has been brought from nurseries near Diamond Harbour and there is a special section of Foxtail Pine trees. “After a few monsoons when these trees will have grown, their leaves will look like a fox’s tail in the evenings under moonlight,” the artiste promises.

The maze at the park

Tree house and maize

There are swings, monkey bars and playpens for the little ones but visitors of all ages can take a tour of the biggest attraction at the park — the tree house. The house has three towers, one for entry, one exit and a third for an emergency exit. Each of them has a concealed spiral staircase finished with fibre to make it look like tree trunk. “We have planted Mango, Chiku and Ashok trees around this tree house so a few years later their leaves cover the region. The pillars will then not be visible and it will look like a house perched on branches,” says Kundu.

Visitors can climb up the stairs and view the park from atop the tree house. Then they can walk to the other towers using bridges. These wooden bridges have been given rope railings, to lend an adventurous feel.

The tree house

There is also a maize for visitors of all ages to walk into. The maize has right turns, wrong turns and dead ends. “Some people have been lost inside this maize for up to 10 minutes,” laughs Abhijit Pal, a maintenance man at the park.

At present the inner walls of the maize are made of flexes with images of leaves but it will soon be replaced by real creepers that will cover the entire wall. “It will feel like visitors are lost inside a jungle,” Kundu smiles. Some real trees have been planted inside the maize too and once they grow bigger their leaves will spread to create canopies on the top. That is why the top of the maize has been left uncovered.

The music playing in the park will soon be synchronised with the fountains there to create musical fountains. “When I was approached for this chidlren’s park project eight to nine months ago I had wanted to create a Disneyland-meets-Thakumar Jhuli world, full of castles and underwater life forms. While that was not possible due to budget constrains we have tried our best to present something to make children happy,” says Kundu who worked within an approximate Rs 5.5 crore budget to build the 8 acre park.

Water cascading down the artificial waterfall. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Like park is open from 2pm to 9pm on weekdays and on Sundays and holidays from 12pm to 9pm. The park is closed on Mondays. Entry tickets costs Rs 10 and are sold till 8pm.

Climb or get lost

There are swings, monkey bars and playpens for the little ones but visitors of all ages can take a tour of the biggest attraction at the park — the tree house. The house has three towers, one for entry, one exit and a third for an emergency exit. Each of them has a concealed spiral staircase finished with fibre to make it look like tree trunk. “We have planted Mango, Chiku and Ashok trees around this tree house so a few years later their leaves cover the region. The pillars will then not be visible and it will look like a house perched on branches,” says Kundu.

Visitors can climb up the stairs and view the park from atop the tree house. Then they can walk to the other towers using bridges. These wooden bridges have been given rope railings, to lend an adventurous feel.

There is also a maze, replete with wrong turns and dead ends, for visitors of all ages to walk into and lose their way. “Some people have stayed lost for up to 10 minutes,” laughs Abhijit Pal, a maintenance man at the park.

Fountains in the children’s park

At present, images of leaves on flex are put up on the inner walls of the maze but it will soon be replaced by real creepers that will cover the entire wall. “It will create that lost-in-a-jungle feeling,” Kundu smiles. Some real trees have been planted inside the maze too and once they grow bigger their leaves will create canopies on the top. That is why the top of the maze has been left uncovered.

The music playing in the park will soon be synchronised with the fountains there to create musical fountains. “When I was approached for this children’s park project nine months ago I had wanted to create a Disneyland-meets-Thakumar Jhuli world, full of castles and underwater life forms. While that was not possible due to budget constraints we have tried our best to present something to make children happy,” says Kundu who worked within an approximate budget of Rs 5.5 crore to build the eight-acre park.

The park is open from 2pm to 9pm on weekdays and on Sundays and holidays from noon to 9pm. It is closed on Mondays. Tickets cost

Rs 10 and are sold till 8pm.

Have you visited Eco Tourism Park yet?
Write to saltlake@abpmail.com or The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001