Morning walkers, environment activists and birders have opposed a recent decision of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) to rent out around five bighas of land within the premises of Rabindra Sarobar to a commercial organisation as a celebrity cricket ground.
Nearly 1,100 people have signed a protest letter, which will soon be handed over to KMDA and officials of other government departments.
Green activists allege that renting out a portion of Rabindra Sarobar would further harm the Dhakuria Lake, referred to as the green lungs of south Kolkata, which has already been encroached upon for several non-environment related activities. “Instead of building up more greeneries and green barriers in and around the Sarobar, the authority has been pushing this site to a slow and sure death,” reads the letter, a copy of which is with The Plurals.
“The nature lovers and birders strongly condemn the wrongful decision of the lake custodian (KMDA) and demand a prompt action to stop the digging on the green buffer,” the letter adds.
KMDA countered the allegation, claiming that due processes have been followed in renting out the area to Calcutta Entertainment Club Foundation with effect from March 15 and that all safeguards have been taken to protect the environment. The foundation, which was set up on June 23, 2023, and has three directors linked to the Bengal film and entertainment industry, mentions ‘social work’ as its activity in its company profile.
The land under the scanner lies to the left of the lake after one enters the lake compound through Gate No. 8, off the road that goes towards the Lake Gardens bridge after crossing Southern Avenue.
City needs greens to counter searing heat
“Rabindra Sarobar is one of the few remaining green patches in the city and there should be no effort to curtail it anymore; we are exploring all options to stop the encroachment on the greens and feel that such decisions should not be taken unilaterally by KMDA without clearance of appropriate Union government agency, as it is a national lake,” said Naba Dutta, secretary of green platform Sabuj Mancha.
Sabuj Mancha, which took part in the protest march against renting out of the Lake area a few days ago along with the morning walkers, has already written to KMDA chief and state urban development minister Firhad Hakim, demanding the withdrawal of the permission. The letter referred to the city’s dwindling green and present heatwave which, experts feel, has become stronger owing to the lack of greens in the city.
“Kolkata has the least green cover among all the six metropolitan cities and the loss of greenery has also been the maximum among these six as per the last Forest Survey of India report. It’s strange that instead of increasing the greenery and perhaps, setting up of an urban forest in the land promoting biodiversity, it has been handed over to a commercial organisation, apparently into celebrity cricket, on the pretext of sports activity,” said S.M. Ghosh, an environmentalist and also a morning walker. Ghosh apprehends that high-profile celebrity cricket in the area would invite a lot of cars, people and add to air and noise pollution of the area.
Apparently, the permission was sought by the organisation sometime back but got buoyed after the Bengal film star team won the National Cricket Celebrity League. “The idea is to create a cricket facility akin to small county grounds,” said a source.
Permission bars any construction
Documents available with The Plurals show that nearly five bighas of land was handed over to Calcutta Entertainment Club Foundation on a rental basis for utilisation as a playground on March 15; and the given conditions bar any permanent or temporary construction in the area. The total rental period is 10 years but KMDA reserves the right to terminate the agreement at any time.
“The allegation and apprehension of the people who are opposing it (renting out the land), morning walkers and environmentalists are completely misplaced. The area was lying as an abandoned spread with unkempt grass and the land has been rented out maintaining all norms,” said a senior KMDA official.
He added that though green activists have been referring to national norms and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders against such renting out, they could not cite any document so far. “The area has about 30 trees and not even one will be felled. Moreover, the permission is only for the duration from 6am to 6pm, so that birds do not get affected by light in the evening and all NGT orders regarding the lake will have to be maintained,” said the official, reminding that land has been given to several other organisations earlier to run similar cricket camps.
“That is exactly the point. Already enough encroachments have been allowed within Rabindra Sarobar and time is ripe now to ensure that no further encroachment happens,” said an environmentalist. “Let us not get into the legality of it. Solely on the sake of environmental morality, a city, grappling with climate change-triggered record temperature rise should make all efforts to add green wherever possible especially in a space like Rabindra Sarobar. The reverse is unacceptable, KMDA should review its decision,” said the climate expert.