Captain Bheri is going to start offering rowing and kayaking classes from anyone aged above 11 years from the first week of January.
A similar plan is also afoot to start rowing and kayaking classes at Nalban soon.
The popular city hotspot off EM Bypass is maintained and run by the state fisheries department and while the water body is used for pisiculture. The park around it is a popular hangout zone.
The department has tied up with the Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC) to run the kayaking classes.
Till now, eight still-water kayaks — low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits facing forward, legs in front, using a double-bladed paddle to pull front-to-back on one side and then the other in rotation—have been brought in to the Captain Bheri by the CRC.
Chandan Roy Chowdhury, secretary of Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC) and the West Bengal Kayaking and Canoeing Association, said that the idea is to create a water sports hub that will have the best of rowing facilities in this part of the city.
“We are moving ahead with a plan to create an alternative to Rabindra Sarovar that till date is the only place where people can learn rowing as a sport in the city,” said Roy Chowdhury.
Captain Bheri measures around 30acres and the water body in the middle measures around 16acres. The average depth of the water is around 4 feet.
“This is ideal and very safe for amateur rowing training. There is also a straight clearance of 500m that gives rowers flexibility to row and compete with fellow rowers,” said Roy Chowdhury, adding that they will implement all SOPs, including rescue boats, life savers, weather alert system and presence of rescue ambulance before beginning training activities.
State fisheries minister Biplab Roy Chowdhury said they were planning to use more water bodies under the fisheries department for water sports. “Once we start the rowing and kayaking activities at Captain Bheri, we will take the project further. We plan to start another training hub at Nalban where the rowers will get a 1,500m clearance, which can be used even for competitions,” said Roy Chowdhury.
So far, Calcutta had only one rowing facility, at Rabindra Sarobar, where three clubs — CRC, Bengal Rowing Club and Lake Club — offer rowing lessons to trainees of different age groups. There is another small facility run by CRC at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta but that is available only for the students there.
Apart from the rowing classes paddle boats will also be available on hire for day visitors to Captain Bheri.
A 30-minute ride on a paddle boat will cost Rs 150, a senior fisheries department official said.
Kayaking Is also conducted in Eco Park and the charges are Rs 150 for half an hour but the kayak rides are for visitors only.
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