Vivekananda Park on Southern Avenue, one of Calcutta’s largest parks, resembles a dumping ground more than a park.

The park’s walkways are filled with litter. There are heaps of garbage under
some of the concrete benches, making it impossible for anyone to sit. Shells of green
coconut are strewn here and there.

Hundreds of young boys and girls visit the park every weekend for cricket coaching camps. There are separate football training sessions. The park is also open to people who have not enrolled in any of these clubs.

Many also go to the park for their morning walk or evening stroll in the leafy surroundings of the park.

“It is indeed in a poor condition. We have told the authorities many times during discussions that the park needs cleaning. We do some cleaning on our own but that is not enough,” said former Bengal cricket team captain Sambaran Banerjee, who runs the Mainland Sambaran Cricket Academy in the northeastern corner of the park.

Six cricket coaching centres run from the park. They have trainees coming through the week but the number goes up on the weekends.

One of the grounds, in front of Vijay Sports, also hosts group tournaments run by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), inter-school tournaments and CAB’s second-division league matches.

One of the cricket coaching clubs, Rising Star, is where former India cricketer
Jhulan Goswami trained in her youth.

A member of Rising Star said the park had not been cleaned in at least six months. “It is true, the park is in unhealthy condition,” the member said.

A frequent visitor to the park said she found the walkways undulated and difficult to walk on. “I have arthritis, which is why my doctor has advised me to go out in the sun. I go to Vivekananda Park, but the walkway running through the middle of the park is in shambles. When it rains, the walkway gets waterlogged on stretches,” she said.

The concrete benches built along the pathway are also in shambles. One has heaps of garbage lying around it, making it impossible for anyone to sit on the bench. At least one more is broken.

The custody of Vivekananda Park was transferred to Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) about three months ago. The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority was the custodian before that.

“The park has been handed over to us but we have not been able to begin its maintenance. We will deploy people soon to clean the park,” said a KMC official.

The KMC, which is the custodian of hundreds of parks in the city, assigns cleaners for its parks.