Brace up for World Parks Week at Eco Park between April 29 & May 7

The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) for the first time will be celebrating the World Parks Week which is held across the globe on April 29.

World Urban Parks, an international body declared April 29 as the World Parks Day. Debashis Sen, chairman of HIDCO said the Corporation got in touch with the world bodyand the body would tweet and propagate in its Facebook page the various events that will be held at Eco Park between April 29 and May 7.

Eco Park, renamed as Prakriti Tirtha by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the new tourist destination and since January 2013, it has recorded a staggering 75 lakh footfall. It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister while inaugurating Uttirno, a multi-facility cultural complex on Friday evening had acknowledged the popularity of Eco Park and remarked that Uttirno would be a similar crowd-puller in the days to come.

The World Park Week will be inaugurated with an angling completion on April 29. Taking cue from the overwhelming enthusiasm among the participants at the first-ever angling completion organised jointly by HIDCO and the State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) at Eco Park on April 14, the same competition has been kept on the inaugural day. Interested people can apply online from Monday.

There will be a Kayaking race on April 30. HIDCO's new slogan is: "There is never a dull moment at New Town. Here you can keep expecting the unexpected." On May 1 and 2, there will be a photography competition and paddle boat competition. On May 3, 4 and 5, there will be a sit-and-draw competition followed by slow cycling competition and Segway tour. On May 6 and 7, there will be speed skating and speed cycling completions and the week-long programme will come to an end with a cultural show.

Except for the Segway tour, there will be prize for every competition. The attitude of visitors coming to a park has changed and now they want some kind of sporting activity in the park. There is a cycling track at Eco Park along with indoor games facilities. HIDCO has prepared a graded cycle track for the first time in the state and the cycle on hire scheme will be introduced shortly whereby a person can hire a cycle fitted with GPS and cycle down to different offices and then deposit the cycle and pay the requisite fee.