A Calcutta High Court division bench on Thursday issued an interim order staying till July 25 a decision of the state to rent out a slice of the Rabindra Sarobar greens to an organisation for cricket training.
“I know cricketers are blue-eyed boys of the country but that does not mean the government allows them to do business in the areas under their control,” said the bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam.
“The land of the Maidan is also being used for a similar purpose without the knowledge of the army, despite the army being the legal custodian of the Maidan,” the chief justice said.
The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, the custodians of the Sarobar, rented out a three-acre slice of the premises, near Gate No 8 of the Sarobar, to Calcutta Entertainment Club Foundation, in March this year.
The foundation has been set up to provide free cricket and football training to underprivileged children, said one of its directors.
On Thursday, the counsel for the state prayed for time to respond. The bench directed the state government to file an affidavit by July 25 stating its stand.
The order followed a public interest litigation moved by the environment platform Sabuj Mancha.
The Mancha, in its petition, challenged the validity of the state’s notification. It claimed cricket coaching camps disturbed the ecological balance and affected the biodiversity of the Sarobar.
The camps were against the interest of the general people, who wanted the lake to remain their “only free breathing place” in south Calcutta, the Mancha said.
The Mancha also claimed that the state government practically allowed “some individuals” to make money by organising camps and tournaments there.
The petition followed a series of protests against the upcoming cricket coaching centre. Some of the people behind the foundation are linked to the Bengal film and entertainment industry, prompting the protesters, including green activists, regular morning walkers and bird watchers, to allege that they feared the place would be used for “celebrity cricket”.
Naba Datta, secretary of Sabuj Mancha, told this newspaper that the platform was not against cricket. “But cricket should not affect the biodiversity and ecological balance of the lake,” he told this newspaper. “There is another issue that needs to be addressed. The KMDA is the custodian of the lake. But does it have the authority to rent a part of the compound like this?”
A KMDA official said no rule was flouted in renting the land to the foundation. “Not a single tree was felled. There will be no construction in the area, which looked like an unkempt den of weeds,” he said.
The official then said something that most Calcuttans would agree with.
“Lake and cricket are synonymous. There are many cricket coaching camps on the Sarobar grounds. Some of them have been running for over 25 to 30 years.”
Actor Jisshu Sengupta, one of the foundation’s directors set up in June 2023, echoed the KMDA official: “We want to organise free cricket and football training camps for underprivileged children. We want to spot and nurture talents from across the state. Growing up, I played my cricket on the Sarobar grounds. I cannot understand how sports training would affect the ecological balance. We have full faith in the judiciary and are hopeful of a positive outcome.”
Saugata Nandi, also associated with the foundation, said: “When we got to the area, it was full of garbage. We cleared it and also planted over 120 trees. We are not doing anything that is against the norms. We plan to start training the first batch from November this year”.
