Pune Municipal Corporation collaborates with Safe Kids Foundation to jointly operationalize the first of its kind Children’s Traffic Park -Urban 95 at Bremen Chowk, Aundh, Pune. “Urban95 is the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s global initiative to make a difference in the early years of a child’s life. 

Dinkar Gojare, executive engineer, department of roads, PMC said, “This is a new initiative where PMC has taken a lead and created a special children and family programme. The PMC had presented the initiatives taken under Urban 95, thus pioneering in bringing the project to life.

Safe Kids Foundation implements road safety programs since 2007. As an educational partner it is  instrumental in creating awareness and trainings for children, parents, teachers and visitors on road traffic lessons and safety, specifically focussing on children below 12years. Safe Kids Foundation will appoint trainers who will teach children in the park with the help of short films, songs, power point presentation, actual demonstrations in the park. Under the project, a street model measuring 160 metres in length and 4 metres in width, has been created with all features on city roads, including miniature -size traffic signals, signages, crossing, speed breakers, footpaths, and cycle track among others. There are 28 bicycles in the park and the children would be trained to use them along with helmets to travel on the road model while following traffic rules by identifying signages and traffic signals to instil the importance of following traffic rules.

Ms. Rupa Kothari, Trustee Safe Kids Foundation says, “such initiatives are very important to help children inculcate lessons on traffic and road safety.  The Child friendly traffic park is a much-required intervention model to make children aware of road traffic rules at an early age. Roads infrastructures should also be sensitive of needs of children who walk and travel on the roads”.

The Children’s Traffic Park- Urban 95 was inaugurated by Mr. Devendra Fadanvis, leader of opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and other eminent guests who attended the program are Chandrakant Dada Patil, Shri Prakash Javdekar, Ajitdada Pawar, Neelam Gore and Girish Bapat, were present for the inauguration ceremony.