Lessons from Chennai’s first inclusive park

Continuous vigil by resident-volunteers has ensured Infinity Park in Santhome remains well-maintained

In 2018, when the Greater Chennai Corporation turned an open playground that was misused by tipplers at West Circular Road in Santhome, into the first inclusive park in the city, they would not have foreseen getting huge support from the residents living in and around the locality.

The park designed by CityWorks is a partnership between the Disability Rights Alliance and Kilikilli, an NGO formed by parents of children with special needs.

“One of the first things we did was make a call for volunteers and we got a good number of residents from the neighbourhood expressing interest,” says Sudha Ramamoorthy, a member of DRA and resident of Mylapore. After a point, she says, the inclusive space was maintained and overseen by the volunteers.

A WhatsApp group called Infinity Park was created where volunteers share rota of who will be at the park and when, attend to maintenance-related issues at the park and other aspects that make the space truly inclusive. They would even pin their green volunteer badge while going on a round of the facility. There were also instructions on how to use the play equipment.

Sheila D’Souza, an active volunteer who lives close to the park, says they did face many challenges in the initial months.

Once Sheila had to confront a group of people who wanted to laze around in the park eating food and having alcohol. “I spoke to them politely but they refused to leave, asking me to complain to the police. Later, I took the help of another volunteer who had retired from the police to handle the situation,” says Sheila. When the play equipment suffer any damage, volunteers alert the department to have them fixed or replaced. “We became the point of contact so much that when special schools wanted to visit the park, they would inform us and we would alert the watchman,” says Sheila.

Although the timings of the park are similar to those followed at other facilities, they throw open their gates during the day when special schools make a request to use the facility. Sheila says continuous patrolling by residents during the early years has ensured the space is used by children in the age group it’s meant for.

“We are not so active now but that’s because we intervened during its early years and now it’s good to be on its own, but we still keep a watch over the space,” says Sheila. She says when residents take ownership of such green spaces around them, there is a sense of belonging.

Sudha says the success of such parks is determined by the number of children it can draw across socio-economic divides and the safe space it offers them.