The green verge of AE Block may finally be getting cleared out but it could be pre-Puja before it is cleaned a second time. The urban development department (UD), that is in charge of the park, says it has been trying to hand over daily maintenance of the stretch to the Corporation, that has sweepers at its disposal, but that the latter is yet to assume the responsibility.
Commuters crossing Kwality More can see heaps of grass dumped outside the verge and this is because it is being trimmed for the first time since winter. “Snakes and mosquitoes were breeding there. Residents had stopped venturing to the stretch for morning walk,” said Tapas Sengupta, secretary of AE Block Samaj Kalyan Sangha, the residents association of AE (Part II).
While the verge’s maintenance is officially under the UD, residents say it was the corporation sweeper who cleaned it up. But even that stopped since winter. Councillor Sabyasachi Dutta washed his hands off saying it wasn’t their job to begin with and multiple letters to Firhad Hakim, minister of urban development and municipal affairs, went unanswered.
The block finally shelled out Rs 18,000 from its own coffers to get it cleaned, as reported in The Telegraph Salt Lake on March 3. But the authorities failed to even remove the leaves that were swept up on the sides. As reported on March 10, a fire broke out from the leaves and three fire tenders were needed to douse it. Another round of deputations later, work finally started last week.
But the UD has no plans of making this a regular affair. “We had to float a tender for this clean-up. We do not have the funds or manpower to do this on a daily basis. We are doing this now before the monsoons and maybe do so again before the Pujas,” said a department official, adding that they had been trying to hand over the maintenance of the verge to the corporation since 2022. “Despite our letters, it has not taken effect yet. We want to hand over maintenance of AE, BE and CE green verges. We have also requested BMC to renovate the broken figurines in the AE Block verge. We are doing the bare minimum with the little funds we have.”
Tin structure
Another issue has emerged in the form of a temporary tin and bamboo structure that has come up right outside the verge on the empty plot of AE 338, that a sign board claims belongs to the UD.
“There was a temporary structure inside the verge since 2016 where we used to keep banners and flexes of events such as Rabindrajayanti. But when Sujit da asked us to move out due to clean-up work, we duly complied. To store the items, we have now built a tin and bamboo structure outside. The same plot also houses a garage, a sand pit and a roadside barber and we shall move out whenever the plot owners want,” says a resident of the block, asking not to named.
But residents do not want any unauthorised structure, least of all a political one, says Sengupta. As of Wednesday, the structure still stood erect albeit unoccupied.
CF Park work left
Another park in the same ward, next to Sharma Tea in CF Block, has been cleared off rubble that it had accumulated over months but its adjacent parks are still in waiting.
“We had to run from pillar to post to get the work done. We approached the councillor, the mayor, the mayoral council members and even the MLA just to get the grass trimmed. Mosquitoes and snakes were breeding there and entering neighbouring houses (as reported on September 16, 2022). Residents couldn’t walk past it as the grass was over 5ft tall,” says a member of the block’s association without being named.
About a month back, corporation workers finally cleared the plot, that was once built on the theme of Pather Panchali. It has a miniature train among a few tall trees. But this park has more grounds next to it — one with the community hall, a senior citizen’s park, a football ground and children’s safari themed park. The last two are still in need of maintenance.
“We are thankful to the authorities for initiating the clean-up but are disheartened that the work has not been completed. Around 40 per cent of the parks, including the football field and the safari park are still a mess. We have tried to contact the authorities over phone and WhatsApp messages but got no reply,” said Gora Roy, secretary of CF Block association.
Additional reporting by Sudeshna Banerjee