Here's good news for children of the city who are eagerly waiting to hang out in the upcoming international standard children's park at Nerul. Coming up with an estimated budget of Rs 22 crore, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's ambitious project got a breather on financial crunch, courtesy Thane Member of Parliament Sanjeev Naik who has just sanctioned Rs 1 crore from local MP's developmental work fund to expedite work at the ongoing construction of a children's park being developed on a 10-hectare land in NMMC ward no 80, sector 19A, Nerul.

Naik has initiated the work on construction of guest house, garden residence, public address and announcement system, amphitheatre, audio-visual works through his MP fund recently. The bhoomi pujan of the same has been done on by Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik in the presence of Airoli MLA Sandeep Naik and officials from civic administration. This one crore would be spent for additional facilities for the park apart from other gadgets being put in place, said an official.

"The first phase of the work under MP fund allocation will be over by March 2012 and the final phase should end by June next year. Once completed, it will be an eye-opener for other cities to follow the module. This is part of Vision Navi Mumbai and will be an international tourist spot," said Sanjeev Naik from Delhi.

The idea to have a children's park of international stature was formulated by NMMC in 2010 which got a deadline extension till March 2012. "From my MP fund, Rs 5 crore has been already sanctioned to develop a mini indoor stadium at Balkum in Ghodbunder corridor, Thane and a similar kind of sports stadium at Bhyander too with a whopping budget appropriation. On the lines of Nerul-based children's park, we are chalking out a plan to develop another recreational centre in Airoli assembly area soon," said Sanjeev Naik.