The yet-unnamed joggers? park coming up opposite Rabindra Sadan. Picture by Pabitra Das

Ten acres of sprawl, fun fountains and food courts, fruit trees and a running track ? chances of Victor Banerjee and Perizaad Zorabian meeting here for a morning jog are remote, but a joggers? park is coming to town.

Within a fortnight is when south Calcutta?s answer to Bandra?s popular haunt should be up and running.

The yet-unnamed park opposite Rabindra Sadan is being developed by the civic engineering department of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), with an investment of Rs 10 crore.

Mayor Subrata Mukherjee said on Wednesday the park would be ?10 acres of fun and relaxation?, but with an outpost of the mounted police to ensure the safety of visitors and joggers.

This will be the fifth largest park or square in the city, after Eden Gardens, Park Circus, Deshabandhu Park and Dalhousie Square.

?I would like to keep the park open till 10 pm so that Calcuttans can use it after office hours. But before fixing the timings, I have to speak to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the police authorities,? said the mayor.

The mayor?s officer on special duty (OSD) Shaktibrata Ghosh pegged the annual maintenance cost for the park at over Rs 60 lakh. So, an entry fee of Rs 3 is being planned to help make the project self-sustaining.

?Since entry fee to the Victoria Memorial has been fixed at Rs 4, the fee for this park cannot exceed that,? explained Ghosh.

Director-general (civil) Uday Shankar Sengupta said about Rs 8 crore had already been spent. Besides having the tallest fountain in the city (100 ft), there will be a fun fountain for children and a surprise fountain, all controlled by a special computer. ?We are also exploring the possibility of setting up food courts in the park,? said Ghosh.

All seating arrangements will be of marble, while fruit trees, medicinal plants and an array of palm trees will be planted over the years.

Plantation in the park is being carried out under the advice of joint director of Botanical Gardens, Girija Shankar Giri.

Unlike Millennium Park, that had passed into private hands, this park will be run by the CMC, clarified the mayor.