City lights: No takers for Victoria

KOLKATA: It’s cleaner, greener and has been giving the Victoria Memorial grounds a tough run for its money. Morning walkers in Kolkata, who would swear by the part of the Maidan towered over by the historic monument, seem to be switching allegiance to the much less-fancied Rabindra Sarobar, considered shady and downmarket till recently. More than 200 members of the various walkers associations at Victoria have moved to the ‘lakes’ in the last five months for a hassle-free stroll in less polluted environs, where parking isn’t an issue either.

More than 500 lake walkers gathered at the Rabindra Sarobar on Sunday to take part in a Holi celebration, attended by KMDA CEO Vivek Bharadwaj. It’s the KMDA which has changed the face of the lakes through a series of beautification projects. The result has been a switch of loyalty that has taken the Rabindra Sarobar Friends’ Forum by surprise. “We are flooded with applications for membership. Since 2011, there has been a sudden spurt in the number of morning walkers. Die-hard Victoria loyals are now regulars at the lakes. Many have been travelling from Shyambazar and Dum Dum. Scores of central Kolkata residents, who would earlier prefer the Victoria for its proximity, are now happy to take the trouble of driving down to Rabindra Sarobar. They find it greener and cleaner than the Maidan,” said TC Jain, coordinator of the Friends’ Forum. The Lakes are visited by more than 2500 walkers every morning.

Parking difficulties and poor maintenance are responsible for the shift of loyalty, according to those who have defected. The Victoria greens no longer wear the emerald carpet that made walking a pleasure. Since parking was banned around the Maidan in 2008, commuting has been a bother as well. “Walkers have to trudge for more than a kilometre to hop into their car at the end of their walk which is tiring. Another irritant is the pollution and the noise. Since you have cars plying all around the Maidan, the smoke often gets unbearable. Finally, the Maidan pathways are poorly maintained. It’s not properly cleaned either,” said DK Khandelwal, a former Victoria walker who has now moved to the lakes.

He found the lakes ‘incredibly clean and quiet’, he said. “It’s a morning walker’s delight. You have greenery all around, pathways are clean, garbage is collected regularly and you don’t have cars honking around you. It’s probably the least polluted spot in Kolkata,” gushed Khandelwal.

Walk for a cause

Come March 18 and the city will witness a unique walk starting from the Calcutta Rowing Club in Rabindra Sarobar in support of the Down Syndrome. The Down Syndrome (DS) occurs because of chromosomal anomaly in a child at birth. Usually, parents of children, affected by the syndrome, tend to hide the child from social exposure which not only hinders their growth but also alienates them from the rest of the world. The walk, organized by The Down Syndrome Support Group of Kolkata, will hence help to create more awareness among parents. The support group has been formed by two courageous mothers Neelam A Jain and Christina Mitra Jabbar whose children are affected by the Down Syndrome. “People born with DS need our support, respect, dignity and equal rights. Yet, most of the parents find it difficult to deal with their children with DS. Each DS child has an extraordinary ability which can be honed for the benefit of the society,” said Jain.

On Sunday, March 18, the city will witness a unique walk from Calcutta Rowing Club in Rabindra Sarovar in support of Down Syndrome Awareness. United Nations for the first time in the history has recognized March 21 as World Down Syndrome Day. The Down Syndrome occurs because chromosomal anomaly in a child at birth. A child with Down Syndrome has 47 chromosomes in every cell as against 46 chromosomes in those unaffected. The DS children share common physical traits of low muscle tone, small stature and upward slant to the eyes and flat facial features. It takes a huge effort by parents to push DS children into main-stream of life. Most of the parents tend to take it as stigma and try to hide the child from social exposure. This hinders the growth of the child and a sense of alienation cripples him socially. The Down Syndrome Support Group of Kolkata, formed by two courageous mothers of DS Children Neelam A Jain and Christina Mitra Jabbar, has organized this Buddy Walk for creating this awareness. “People born with DS need our support, respect, dignity and equal rights. Yet most of the parents found it difficult to deal with their children with DS. Each DS child has an extra-ordinary ability which can be honed for the benefit of the society,” said Jain.

For a clean Kolkata

In a noble initiative, nearly 1,400 senior division NCC cadets led volunteers from the Krishi Vikas Shilpa Kendra – an NGO – and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to clean up the Brigade Parade Ground and the water tank at the Park Street and Outram Road crossing on Sunday morning. The cadets also took a pledge to clean up other parts of the city. Among those present at the campaign, titled ‘Cleanliness a Virtue’, were Firhad Hakim, state urban development minister and Maj Gen M P Singh, additional director general, NCC (Bengal and Sikkim directorate). Hakim hailed the initiative and hoped that this step would help to raise awareness among others to keep surroundings clean.

Urinal turns blue & white

Whenever you think of shades in Kolkata, think blue and white. There’s no escaping the combination, even if it happens to be a toilet wall. After a series of flyovers, lampposts, road dividers and even trees, it’s now the turn of urinals to take on the preferred city colours. An NGO-run urinal at Netaji Nagar in south Kolkata has recently been painted white with thick blue borders. It could be the turn of cemeteries and crematoriums next, locals conjectured.

For the shutterbugs

CRY – Child Rights and You – is organizing ‘Focus Right 3.0′, the third edition of its online photography competition for Child Rights. Conducted by CRY volunteers from IIT Kharagpur, the competition aims at capitalising the potential of photography to influence policy changes to ensure child rights in the state. The theme for the competition is “We are the Future.” The event is open to all. Last date for entries is March 15, 2012.

A loyal driver

Strange are the ways at the Writers’ Buildings. A government officer, whose chamber happens to be on the top floor of the building, has to make his driver sit in his room if he is called by ministers or secretaries for consultation late in the evening. Or else, he finds that his room has been locked while he was away. Last month, he had left his room unattended and climbed down to the second floor for a meeting with a minister. When he returned, he discovered that his room has been locked by a PWD staffer who has safely delivered the keys to the caretaker office located in a far corner of the building. His papers, which he needed to look up immediately, were inside. “These caretakers are always roaming around and whenever they find a room empty, they lock it. It happened to me twice. I have decided not to take a chance,” he said.

Anything for Kahaani

Such was the craze for the film Kahaani that this is what a mother did. Perhaps she found no one at home to keep her one-year-old son at home. Wife of a senior central government employee, she reached the movie hall in an SUV. Once the car was parked at the designated lot for VIPs on Lindsay Street, she handed over her baby, towels, vacuum flasks, milk bottle et al to the male attendant accompanying them. She left him detailed instructions and strode off to the hall. “Har adhe ghante mein mujhe khabar dete rehna aut agar zyada roye to bula lena,” said the woman. (Keep me informed every half an hour. And if he cries a lot then call me). The instructions were loud enough for everyone to hear.

Sarobar run for a cause

KOLKATA: It was a run for a cause. Hundreds of people, from schoolchildren to the elderly, participated in the event called ‘Run for Change’ organised by the Kolkata Improvement Trust (KIT) in association with the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) at Rabindra Sarobar on Sunday. The event was organised both as part of KIT’s centenary celebrations as well as to create awareness to save and protect Rabindra Sarobar that is considered one of the lungs of the city.

People cutting across the society – from ministers and bureaucrats to sportspersons and film actors – all came along on a sunny Sunday morning to celebrate the occasion. State urban development minister Firhad Hakim, mayor Sovan Chatterjee, city police commissioner R K Pachnanda, actor Rituparna Sengupta, industrialist Harsh Neotia, former Miss Earth Nicole Faria, renowned hockey player Gurbax Singh, athlete Rita Sen, KMDA CEO Vivek Bharadwaj, urban development secretary Debashis Sen and several others were present at the event to flag off the run and cheer for the participants. Students from several city-based schools like Loreto House, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Garden High, Saint James and Ashok Hall participated in the event along with different institutions and NGOs.

Minister Firhad Hakim and mayor Sovan Chatterjee also joined in the run and ran a few meters with the participants. “Run for Change is a cause to save and protect Rabindra Sarobar. We are all here together today with this common cause. We want to protest and raise our voice together to see that the nature, environment and water is protected and the greenery increased in this sarobar,” said minister Firhad Hakim.

The event started off from the Sarobar stadium. The main event had two segments – a 4-km run within the Sarobar premises participated by schoolchildren and the elderly and a 10-km run participated by professional runners and others that moved down Deshapran Sashmal Road, Prince Anwar Shah Road and Gariahat Road before heading back for the Sarobar stadium. There was also a 100-m run by a group of physically challenged children, which brought tremendous applause from the audience.

Bangla band Bhumi performed at the event, singing their popular numbers to much cheer and applause. Uttam Das mesmerised the crowd by his open-hand jugglery with a football. The event ended with an award-giving ceremony.

The KMDA and KIT are jointly working on beautification and upgrade plans to develop Rabindra Sarobar. Police commissioner R K Pachnanda said security arrangements were being tightened at Rabindra Sarobar. “Police patrolling is going on in the Sarobar,” he said. As part of the beautification programme, new saplings and trees have been planted and the entire place is being cleaned up. The Sarobar stadium has also got an uplift. The KIT has recently appointed a new security service, too. A dog squad has been appointed for night vigil.

Vox Pop

Rituparna Sengupta

film actor

“This is a splendid initiative to save the environment of Rabindra Sarobar and I am very happy to be a part of this initiative. Lets come together and build up a beautiful Rabindra Sarobar”

Nicole Faria

Miss Earth, 2010

“Run for Change is a great initiative. Its all about sticking together to save and protect the environment of the sarobar,”

Harsh Neotia

Industrialist

“Run for Change was a great initiative to create awareness and consciousness amongst the people to help the city to keep clean and green,”

Sovan Chatterjee

Mayor and KMDA vice chairman

“We want to save and protect Rabindra sarobar and to keep it green and clean. This Sarobar run is a cause to join together for this effort,”

Firhad Hakim

state urban development minister

“This Run for Change is a cause to come together to save the water and the environment of Rabindra Sarobar and to increase its greenary,”

Vivek Bharadwaj

CEO, KMDA

“We want good people to come to Rabindra Sarobar. This Run for Change is an intiative towards this. We have already taken various works to develop the sarobar stadium and its surrounding,”

Night walk on the wild side

A group of around 15 enthusiasts, flashlights in hand, hugged tight their hooded jackets and huddled deep into Rabindra Sarobar on the night of Thursday the 12th.

The chill was only beaten by the thrill. For these were Calcutta’s “first nocturnal nature walkers” at the Lakes.

Each member trod carefully along the banks of the water body, careful not to step on the slippery algae as they paused at intervals to peer into the waters.

“Look! That’s a snakehead. They are an aggressive species that can drive away any fish of its size,” said Nilanjan Mukherjee, an English student at Jadavpur University by day and a fish and reptile expert by night. He pointed his torch at a two-foot-long striped fish, glistening in the moonlight. Everyone leaned forward, some clicked pictures while others also spotted the rui maachh and tilapia as they swum in schools nearby.

Further down, the group stopped to look at “nature’s signs” — bird droppings on the road, an indication of a roosting place above, or the skull of a crow.

“Few know that the 193-acre area is home to parrots, barbets, starlings, mynah and harder-to-spot birds like Golden Oriole and Red-throated Flycatcher. There are around 128-132 species of butterflies in Calcutta and almost 70-80 of these can be found in Rabindra Sarobar,” said Arjan Basu Roy, nature guide for the night, and founder of green NGO Nature Mates-Nature Club.

The expert’s idea of coming close to nature is getting down (and often dirty). “Unless you are there, you don’t know what to protect. Unless you see the fish, study the trees, enjoy the silence of the night and the moonlit sky, the urge to protect and love nature will not come from within. You can say ‘I won’t cut trees’ but only when surrounded by nature can you really begin to mean those words,” said Arjan.

The green gang let nature take its course, stopping next at a tree, home to many slimy slugs, snail-like creatures without the shell. An adventurous Ishika Mukherjee, 21, reached out her hand to hold a slug. “It’s the first time I held a slug in my hand and weird as it sounds, it was so exciting! It left a shiny trail on my palm, which I wiped off with a leaf later. It’s so strange because I live close by and I used to come here for my morning walks but I’ve never noticed these things before,” said the student of ISB&M College, visibly awed at her first real brush with nature.

It is this awe that Mudar Patherya feels will bring nature lovers like Ishika to the Rabindra Sarobar. “A sense of awe is what needs to be created. We need to identify the champions of the wild — be it a 60ft radius of a Shirish rain tree, or a simple slug — so that people talk of the Rabindra Sarobar as an amazing natural habitat. And the best thing is you don’t have to go to a forest: a sanctuary packed with wildlife is near your home,” said the green activist who conceptualised the walk on the wild side.

As the group moved deeper into the dark, their paths lit only by the light from their cellphones and a few torches, it got more exciting with spiders, stink bugs and fruit bats. One tree had a machaan (a tree house without a roof) built especially for bird watchers. Sneha Paul, 21, was one of the first to climb the bamboo ladder to the top of the foliage. “I could see the nests of birds and the vastness of the lake ahead. Cool breeze on your face, the silence of the night broken occasionally by the sound of crickets… it was beautiful. I hope they build more of these machaans. I would love to go for nature walks every week.”

If plans work out, the hotel management (NSHM) student may be able to that. Both day and night trails are on the cards, with the next one scheduled for the first week of February.

“These trails are not just for nature lovers but also for those who want field-oriented practical knowledge to pursue it as a career with wildlife NGOs later,” said Arjan, adding, “Other plans include a flower haat on Saturday or a vegetable market on Sunday. We will also build two-three more machaans.”

The Rabindra Sarobar authorities have long wanted to alter the kind of footfall that comes into the area. “We want to make this place a hub for all kinds of nature activities. This first-of-its-kind nature trail created quite a buzz and we want to make the place more accessible to the public, especially nature lovers, sportspersons and youngsters. There are very few cities in India that have waterbodies like ours,” said Vivek Bharadwaj, the CEO of CMDA.

Year begins on perfect note for Rabindra Sarobar

The first day of the New Year brought with it a pleasant surprise for morning walkers at Rabindra Sarobar as they were greeted by the strains of Bach, Beethoven and Tagore.

The musical concert is the first of a series of initiatives by the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) to turn Rabindra Sarobar into a “vibrant” destination.

As Sunday morning walkers approached the bend near Safari Park, they spotted 12 men in black suits playing violin, viola and cello. Wondering who these musicians were, the morning walkers were caught in a bit of a dilemma — whether to continue with their fitness regime or stop to enjoy the music.

Most decided to take a break and settled down on the benches nearby to listen to the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra play the compositions of Beethoven, Bach, Strauss and Tagore.

Musical performances — someone playing the saxophone or strumming the guitar — may become a regular affair at Rabindra Sarobar if plans work out.

The music brought together strangers as they exchanged notes.Minati Minati Ghosh, 81, explained the nuances of Purano sei diner katha and Gram chhara oi ranga matir path to Padma Poddar, in her twenties, who doesn’t know Bengali. Padma, in turn, introduced Minati to Beethoven and Bach.

If some boundaries were broken on Sunday, more will be dismissed soon. “There should be no fences at Rabindra Sarobar. It is a park for people and they must be allowed entry everywhere. We want more people to come here and breathe the wonderful air,” said Vivek Bharadwaj, the chief executive officer of CMDA.

Efforts are on to make the place cleaner and safer. As the first step, garbage is being removed and divers have been engaged to clean the lake. The southern stretch is being beautified and 20 security personnel have been hired to keep vigil so that no one carrying plastic is allowed entry.

Not everything has been smooth — there have been problems in arranging adequate vehicles to carry away the garbage and in finding a suitable dumping ground. “These are minor issues and can be sorted out easily,” said a person involved in the cleaning of the park.

CMDA and CIT have also involved local residents so that the enthusiasm does not fizzle out after a few months.

Mudar Patherya, who has been involved in several citizen initiatives such as the cleaning of the Santragachhi lake, is hopeful that the effort will be successful. The last attempt to give Sarobar a facelift in 2008, led by Patherya, had failed.

“This is the first time that government agencies are getting involved. This will help sustain the programme with more funds,” he said. “We have spoken to the army in Kashmir about bringing two shikaras.”

More programmes are in the pipeline. “We are planning an exhibition on Calcutta soon. Pictures and texts narrating the rich history of our city will be put up,” Bharadwaj said.

A Sarobar run, a few laps circling the waterbody, is on the cards. A dedicated bicycle track is also on the cards. The 4km paved road inside the park is a perfect place for cycling, say those planning the facelift.

But all efforts will fail unless the clean-up campaign is effective. “Dirt has been accumulating for years, especially on the stretch bordering the rail tracks on the southern side. Uprooted trees, overgrown weeds and broken clay idols turn off visitors,” a KMDA official said.

Many visitors are wary of stepping into the 200-acre area after dark. Harassment by eunuchs is a common hazard. “Work to light up the entire area has also started. Security issues too need to be addressed,” said Patherya.