After the lockdown, Pune has opened up fully and the first place that people of all age groups prefer to visit are the public parks which provide socializing opportunities while also maintaining the prescribed social distancing norms.
In Pune, there are 23 big and small public parks and hundreds of smaller community gardens.
The Gaikwad Park in Aundh was visited and the following was checked:
- Open/Closed.
- Accessibility of the Entrance to the Park.
- Accessibility of Jogging Tracks.
- Accessibility of the Children Playing Equipments.
- Accessibility of the Open Gym Equipment.
- Accessibility of the Sitting Area for Senior Citizens.
- Accessibility of the Parking Area.
- Accessibility of the Toilets/Washrooms.
- Availability of Tactile Paths for the Visually-Impaired.
Here are the findings.
- The main entrance is leveled with the main road and is accessible
The other smaller entrance on the west side is accessible as well.
The jogging tracks are neatly leveled and are accessible.
The benches along the jogging track are accessible as well.
The covered sitting areas meant for the senior citizens are unfortunately not accessible for a wheelchair but since it is only a single step above the ground, a wheelchair could possibly manage to access the sit-out area.
Several areas of the park have a level difference and there are no ramps or handrails provided.
All children playing equipment and the open gym areas are inaccessible.
The toilets are accessible from the jogging tracks but there are steps that don’t have ramps or handrails.
Hence overall the men’s and women’s toilet washrooms remain inaccessible.
Here’s the Google Maps view of the Gaikwad Park in Pune showing its accessibility features:
Conclusion
The Gaikwad Park in Pune is partially geared towards embracing the differently-abled and though there were a few discontinuities, helpful people were always available nearby to ease the experience of the differently-abled.
This meetup was conducted as part of the Accessibility for All movement.
BR
Tushar Suradkar
Pune
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