Monalisa Patsani. OP
Bhubaneswar: A group of 20 students of B.Arch. from CET Bhubaneswar took time out from their studies, so as to give something back to the society. In two months’ time, they developed a beautiful park in an area that was a dumping yard. There’s now space for recreation. The park is situated in front of an apartment complex of the Geological Survey of India, near the Fire Station. How did it all happen? “Every year we participate in the Annual Nasa Design Competition (ANDC) and design our ideas on paper and submit them for the contest. This year, we were told to execute our idea in real life rather than simply sketch on paper. We aimed at giving back to the society something based on our skills, knowledge and capabilities,” one of the participants said. Another member said, “When we approached our head of department with this idea, we were discouraged. Even the society that owns the land, which remained as a waste dumping ground, was reluctant to allow us develop a park. They thought we may take away their land. We convinced them and collected funds to execute the plan.” “The society people were using the space for dumping their daily kitchen waste, and those from Vivekananda Hospital also used to dump their hospital waste. We are happy the space is beautifully transformed into a small community park, where people can stop by, relax and have leisure after a hectic day’s work. The elderly from homes can come in and sit for a while for fresh air,” said another member. “We used all kinds of natural, recyclable elements and waste materials to complete the project. Right from wooden logs, newspapers, bottles, tyres, glasses, everything and anything discarded in public places was brought back to use by this endeavor.” A major attraction is the sitting arrangements in the middle of the park, where the students placed combats. They have created a space for gym and installed a balancing bar as also a stretch bar. A foot walk will help people jog during morning and evening hours, while the freshly planted lawn grass is giving the park a greener look. The team of students spent around `41,000 for the purpose, which they collected from people in the area. “We collected disposable and waste materials from shops as also colonies. For the first time, people could see combat being used for sitting purpose. We even used tyres to make a sitting arrangement,” another member said. “It took us two months to complete the park. First we cleared the area of all the garbage. We made sure the place is cleared of all the harmful things so that children coming to play in the park won’t get hurt,” one member said. The group would soon hand over the park to the GSI housing society so that it can both use and maintain the park.