A portion of CF Park has got grass growing so wild that not just mosquitoes but snakes are also making an appearance.
CF Block has a series of parks divided into sections. Approaching from the Sharma Tea side, there is first what used to be a children's park. Next is the ground attached to the community hall where weddings, ceremonies and Durga puja take place. Then comes a senior citizens’ park, a play ground and finally another children’s park.
“All our parks are neglected by the Corporation. The block is forced to spend its own money and trim the grass around the community hall as it gets hired for social events. But to its left and right are jungles,” says a member of the block committee, asking to remain anonymous.
The portion of CF Park that has turned into a jungle
The first ground from the Sharma Tea side seems to be the worst hit. This beautiful park was broken down a few years ago to be turned into a Pather Panchali theme park, residents say. But work got abandoned and now the grass there is over 5ft high in some corners. Branches are drooping to the ground and the pathway is overrun with weeds.
“Water stagnates there, breeding so many mosquitoes that we cannot keep our windows open for more than a couple of hours every morning,” says a resident living adjacent to that park, also not wishing to be identified. “But the height was a snake entering our house on September 8.”
The snake had entered their ground floor staff washroom and was so big and heavy that when they tried to lift and remove it with a stick, the stick broke. The snake escaped to the backyard and could not be spotted thereafter. “Who would take responsibility if it had bitten any of us? Why won’t they maintain the park?” the resident asks. It was a non-venomous rat snake, though.
Block committee members are worried as the Pujas are approaching. “Ours will be a theme puja this year and we are expecting high footfall. The entrance to the pandal from the main road crosses this park and we don’t want visitors to be at risk,” says the committee member.
Ward 31, that includes BF Block, has recently topped Salt Lake in terms of dengue outbreaks, with at least 58 cases reported this year, of which about 30 were reported in September.
Deaf ears
Residents say that the parks in CF Block used to be well-maintained till a few years ago. “Then our councillor Sabyasachi Dutta switched from Trinamul to BJP and the neglect began. The interim ward co-ordinator, Supriyo Chakraborty, got the grass trimmed whenever we asked him to. But after Dutta returned as Trinamul councillor he has ignored us,” says a committee member.
Block committee members and residents have been running from pillar to post over the past fortnight to get the grass trimmed. They’ve reached out to councillor Dutta, mayor Krishna Chakraborty, mayoral council members Rahima Bibi Mondal and Debraj Chakraborty to no avail. “The other day at a police meeting with puja committee members we alerted even MLA Sujit Bose. He heard us out and directed a corporation official to co-ordinate with us but he too has done nothing,” says the committee member.
Another resident points at the manicured lawn in BF Park, opposite Sharma Tea while their own parks lie derelict. “Councillor Dutta said that he was not the councillor for two years in the middle. These politicians have ego tussles amongst themselves but we suffer in the bargain,” he says.
Contacted by The Telegraph Salt Lake, Dutta said it would be pointless to trim the grass with the monsoon in full swing. “If we cut it now, it would grow back in a week. So let the rains be over first,” he said, adding that he had forwarded the petition by the block association to the relevant department at Poura Bhavan.
Additional reporting by Sudeshna Banerjee and Snehal Sengupta