Ahmedabad's Kankaria Lakefront

Have you been enjoying your evening strolls around the new-look Kankaria lake with lush lawns and public spaces around it? Now, as you wait for a toy train to chug in, yet another exciting feature is being unveiled — a walkway around the lake, a ‘stroll zone’, the latest to be added to Kankaria lakefront development plan.This will be the second walkway along a water body in the city, with another being planned along Sabarmati river as part of the riverfront development plan.The stroll zone, a two-km stretch, will come up on the steps leading to the lake water. State urban development department has given provisional approval to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for this new idea, included in the fourth phase of lakefront development plan.This phase will have an additional phase, “4A”, which involves beautifying the walkway and putting up placards, explaining the history of the state and the city. There will also be music played along the walkway. Phase-I of the lakefront plan was implemented around the outer circle of the lake, which has public areas with lush lawns, benches and lighting. Phase-II saw the construction of a ring road skirting the public area and the zoo, which helped decongest traffic around the lake, and made it an exclusive zone. Work on Phase-III is on, which is the main attraction of the development plan with a toy train thrown in for entertainment. The toy train, which will begin chugging in December, is on its way to the city from London.The area identified for development around the lake will be divided into two zones. While Zone-1 will have a “private area” and will have paid access to a thematic park, with joyrides for children and exclusive entertainment and parking zones, the second zone will be the public area and will be open to the public.