The eagerly awaited first dedicated public square of the steel city is likely to open before the 181st Founder’s Day celebration of Tata Steel on March 3 this year, it is reliably learnt.

Sources in Tata Steel utility’s arm, Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services Limited (formerly Jusco), revealed that over 90 per cent work on the public square has been completed. The remaining 10 percent, of mostly civic works and some landscaping, will be completed by this month, the sources said.

“We would like to have the Bistupur Public Square ready before the Founder’s Day celebration in March this year. Patches of civil work remain to be completed,” said a senior official in the town engineering unit of Jusco.

The 175m long and 16m wide Bistupur Public Square alongside the stretch between the city's oldest multi-storey market complex, Kamani Centre, and the Bank of Baroda regional office on Bistupur Main Road was conceptualised in 2018.

“The first phase of the public square, on the stretch near Kamani Centre, was completed in May-June last year along with the parking bay which can accommodate over 200 two-wheelers, and a toilet facility for men and women. There will be no parking bay for four-wheelers as there already exists a parking space for cars and three-wheelers near Bank of Baroda,” said a senior official of Jusco.

The public square will have kiosks, a fountain with colourful lights, a green buffer zone, separate corner for kids and senior citizens.

“There will landscaping with planting of evergreen saplings to add a green buffer between the road and the public square. There will be designer lamps along with colourful fountains and swings and slides in the kids’ corner. We will also install benches and ramps in an exclusive area meant for senior citizens. The public square will have food courts with proper dustbins,” added the Jusco official.

There will be elevated pedestrian crossings and ramps for the disabled. The entrance to the square will also be decked up.

A 1.5m high wall has been constructed on the entire length of the public square and trees have been planted on the stretch facing Bistupur Main Road.

This will help in separating the square from the main road and also ensure people are not inconvenienced when vehicles cross the main road.

“We are striving to complete the public square the earliest,” Jusco spokesperson Sukanya Das said. “However, I am not in a position to inform about the date by which it would be inaugurated.”