Several projects at Ernakulam Children’s Park still incomplete

Toy train withdrawn from service after it develops technical snag

Uncertainty looms large over the commissioning of a long list of rides and projects associated with Ernakulam Children’s Park, eight months after it was opened to visitors on November 14 (Children’s Day), 2021 and five years since the park’s renovation works began.

A toy train that was inaugurated at the park on Sunday was withdrawn from service after it developed a technical snag. It would take a couple of days for it to resume service, said sources.

Kerala Tourism had allotted ₹4 crore for the park’s renovation, following which the District Council for Child Welfare (DCCW) had entrusted the work to Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Co. Ltd (KEL), in 2017. Both DCCW and KEL had attracted public ire, after they were unable to install the toy train, bumper cars, computer games, energy park, water-theme park and many other amenities before or during the summer vacation.

People’s representatives and NGOs such as Ernakulam Vikasana Samity, which has been keenly following up the renovation works, cited how the works kept skipping deadlines, the first of which was May 2019, 18 months since works began in November 2017. The park used to come alive every evening, with children from across the city converging there with their guardians, till it was locked up for renovation works, they said.

An official associated with the park’s upkeep said on condition of anonymity that the DCCW and KEL were unsure of when bumper cars, computer games arcade, energy park and water-theme park would be readied on the premises. “This would mean that children would not be able to enjoy them even during the upcoming Onam vacation. The agencies ought to get their act together,” he said.

Officials of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare preferred not to comment on the state of affairs at the park. An office bearer of DCCW said tenders had been invited for the pending works.