Beyond the horizon of urban complexities, Rittwij and Rittwisha’s excitement has reached a new height as they saw the newly-installed illuminated zone across the AT Road from their apartment complex at Adabari on the eve of Christmas in the gateway city of Northeast, Guwahati.
“Wow! It’s a park. When can we get in? Look at those colourful fountains. Masks on the wall, a pond with beautiful lighting and a gaming zone…!” Rittiwij, being an eight-and-half-year-old boy, observed all these changes in the open space across the road from his apartment for the last three years.
So, he is excited and with his five-year-old sister insisting parents to move out and visit the much-awaited theme park at Adabari in Guwahati, named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ‘Atal Udyan’. And today is the final day for people’s participation when the park is formally dedicated to the people.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with Assam minister Ashok Singhal and Guwahati MP Queen Oja inaugurated the thematically-landscaped park for the people during a ceremonial function at Adabari, in presence of Narayan Deka, chairperson at GMDA on December 24.
While distributing cheques of financial assistance to 15 park management committees of Guwahati at the event, the chief minister has urged that it is the responsibility of the local people to keep the parks clean.
In his address, Sarma also told that the park is named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a mark of respect on the eve of his birth anniversary on December 25.
Since the announcement in 2014, the birth anniversary of the late prime minister is observed as “Good Governance Day” in the country.
This long-pending park project within eight bighas of land at a cost of around Rs 8.74 crore has become a new landmark of Guwahati.
Welcoming this idea of creating a breathing space for the Guwahatians, Suvendu Banerjee, a cultural personality of adjacent Kamakhya Nagar area said: “I am very much charged to see this project becoming a reality. Specially, the idea of an amphitheatre is very helpful for the local cultural groups and artists to conduct various events.”
The Atal Udyan at Adabari in Guwahati has a 250-audience capacity amphitheatre, a meditation hall, mural artwork dais, kiosks, playing zone for both specially–abled children, as well as others.
Atal Udyan has preserved one of the oldest banyan trees of the locality with the surrounding landscape and the Shiva temple in the arena which give a feel of spiritual retreat to the visitors along with suitable shaded and open-air sitting arrangements.
From the open-air gym to the contrast of stones in the ‘Japanese garden’ with fountains and sculptures, are lucrative value additions to Atal Udyan that will definitely catch visitor’s attention.
After completing the project, which took additional time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other related issues, Jagat Ranjan Goswami, a mechanical engineer by profession and project contractor, got a smile back in his face today.
Welcoming the GMDA’s Christmas gift to Guwahati’s new breathing space, Darshana Das, a local resident and a student at Handique Girls’ College said: “We do not have a proper park in our area, I am excited that this theme park (Atal Udyan) will very soon become a place where our friends and families can hang out and spend some quality time together to recharge themselves.”
