Wary of challenges, clubs plan meeting with police – Times of India

Kolkata: Representatives of three rowing clubs — Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC), Bengal Rowing Club (BRC) and Lake Club — at Rabindra Sarobar met on Tuesday to discuss the 11-point standard operating protocols charted by the Kolkata Police and decided to opt for some modifications and submit the same before the cops in a day or two requesting them to accept the same and release a fresh SOP before resuming rowing activities at Lake.
The club authorities received the SOP on Monday evening, three days after the city police commissioner had called them for a meeting at Lalbazar last Friday.
“We have discussed all the pointers and appreciate the suggestions made by Kolkata Police. But we may need to modify some of the pointers based on the availability of resources. We will meet the police commissioner again with the modifications made on their suggested SOPs to finalise a revised SOP,” said Debu Datta, joint secretary of Lake Club.
Chandan Roy Chowdhury, secretary of Calcutta Rowing Club, said discussions were also made on the safety measures in place at rowing clubs across the world and added that they would also take appropriate steps to meet the safety guidelines.
“Rowers’ safety is our first priority. Hence, we will meet the cops in a day or two after making some modifications in the SOP provided by them. Meanwhile, rowing for children will remain suspended but we will appeal for resumption of rowing for seniors with adequate precautionary measures as a national rowing championship is scheduled next month for which selection trials have to be held at the lake,” said Roy Chowdhury.
The club authorities said they were surprised that the cops didn’t mention anything about diesel operated speed boats. Diesel rescue boats currently cannot operate at Sarobar following a KMDA diktat which claimed it was in violation of National Green Tribunal order.
The SOPs were also appreciated by family members of the two teenagers who had lost their life at Lake earlier this month.
“The revised SOP is an admission of the fact that there were stark fallacies at the clubs which, if addressed earlier, could have saved my son’s life. Also, I am happy that the cops have asked the clubs to appoint a safety officer. This was something I had suggested to the police commissioner when he came to our home,” said Souvik Chatterjee, father of Souryadeep.