Subsidence-hit south Kolkata oasis cries for urgent repairs – Times of India

Kolkata: Indrani Park near Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College that was developed with MPLAD fund given by Mamata Banerjee in 2005-06 is sinking. A corporate house that has been looking after the park has written to government agencies for urgent intervention but there has been no help forth-coming yet.
“The steps leading to the water body have collapsed. Large sinkholes have developed in the pathway. The entire zone has turned hazardous. The park had to be shut down to prevent any accident,” said Nandini Chakravarty, managing director of mining electrical equipment manufacturing firm Mine Line Pvt Ltd that has been looking after the park and the water body as part of its corporate social responsibility programme for a decade and a half.
The subsidence that was first noticed around three years ago has increased due to heavy rain this year.
Conceived by Kolkata Improvement Trust (KIT), the agency that has been merged with KMDA, Indrani Park was set around a 3.5bigha waterbody. Jadavpur University civil engineering department created it in 2006. Chakravarty’s company that is located in the vicinity took over its maintenance.
The manicured lawns and flowerbeds of the park is a contrast with the natural wilderness around the water body, making the latter a perfect biodiversity hotspot. “I have a clear view of the Indrani Park water body from my room. Not only does it act as a filter for the traffic noise and fumes on the main road in front, it is a balm for tired eyes. I can look up from my desk to see kingfishers, night herons, ducks and swans, wild parrots and lots of fish. We study about the importance of preserving the civic ecological balance through the maintenance of water bodies, and I can see why guarding these spaces is so vital,” said Modern High School Class X student Debashmi Chakrabarti.
The park has received the agri-horticultural prize for best maintained park in its category for four years in a row. Now the park needs help.
KMDA officials said they were aware of the issue. “We have discussed it with KIT and are looking into the matter. The park is under KIT, which has now come under KMDA board. It first needs to be sorted out as to which agency will take up the work. It may not require more than Rs 4 lakh-Rs 5 lakh but an estimate will have to be prepared and placed before the government for approval and clearance. This will take time,” said an official.