AD Block has introduced a slew of facilities for residents as well as passers-by. There’s an organic vegetable patch, from which produce is being distributed to residents, a children’s park for juniors and a water filter-cum-cooler for thirsty commuters.
The facilities were inaugurated by MLA and minister Sujit Bose before the Pujas and have been developed by the block committee with help from the ward.
“We residents always have a long list of demands from the government but the authorities have their constraints. So instead of waiting for them to fulfil our needs, we decided to do what we can ourselves,” said Arya Ganguly, secretary of the block association.
Councillor Ratna Bhaumik praised the initiatives too. “There is an urgent need to protect our greens, especially since cyclone Amphan and other storms have uprooted many trees in our township. My ward has 30 to 35 empty plots that we clean up every three months but if they are turned into vegetable patches, residents can sit around them, birds would frequent them and they would never turn into jungles.”
Gardeners inspect the organic vegetable patch. Brinda Sarkar
Go green
AD Park is a gated field where youths mostly play football. Opposite this are two smaller parks that had become jungles out of years of neglect. One of these has now been turned into an organic vegetable garden.
“We are growing brinjals, lady’s finger, lal shak, papaya, batabi lebu....” says Sanat Das, one of the gardeners looking after of the plot. “We have been assigned by the corporation to maintain all parks in this ward but in the other parks our work is limited to de-weeding and trimming grass. It brings us great satisfaction to grow vegetables here from scratch.”
The patch is spread over some four cottahs of land and the renovation and maintenance is being carried out by the ward.
Not only have residents been appreciating the initiative but have also been asking to taste the produce. “We have been distributing the vegetables free for cost to residents who have been asking for them. Being organic they are tastier and healthier than the ones in the market,” smiles Ganguly.
A passer-by fills a bottle at the water filter next to the community hall Brinda Sarkar
Children’s park
Another lawn opposite AD Park has been manicured, the boundary walls repaired, painted and turned into a kids’ play arena.
“This park too was a jungle, with trees having fallen to their fate during Amphan. Snakes used to crawl all over too. Now, the park is abuzz with kids’ laughter every afternoon,” says Ganguly.
There are slides, swings, see-saws, merry-go-rounds, ornamental shrubs and benches, and the base of a huge tree — that had fallen during Amphan — has been varnished and used as a decoration instead of being removed. The project cost was Rs 2,20,000 and has been borne by the block committee with help from the ward, that is also in charge of its maintenance now.
The colourful artwork on the park’s boundary wall is courtesy Shankar Pal, the artiste working on the block’s theme puja till a few weeks ago. There is some artwork inside the park too, by students of Labanhrad Vidyapith, the school adjacent to AD Park.
The block has appointed a caretaker for the park, Krishna Bairagi, who says the park will be open from 4 to 6pm till the end of winter. “Not just kids, even parents have also become fond of this park and I often have to request mothers not to sit on the swings meant for under-12s. They have, in fact, been asking for some equipment for adults!” laughs Bairagi.
Water cooler
The third offering is a water filter-cum-cooler, installed outside the community hall. “There was tremendous demand for this, particularly among mothers of students of Labanhrad Vidyapith, who wait in the park while their wards are in class.
The total cost of this unit has been about Rs 1,30,000, out of which the filter was sponsored by family members of the late Sitaram Jagatram Ka and Sushil Kumar, residents of the block. The structure has been funded by the committee. The water line has been drawn from the one in the community hall.
“There is still scope to improve our neighbourhood. We need a public toilet and spaces around the park tend to get overrun with wild growth. Perhaps more residents can sponsor them and we can install green nets around them and beautify them with plants,” said Ganguly.