Kolkata: State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim on Saturday inaugurated the newly renovated Citizen's Park on Cornfield Road in Ballygunge. The park has been developed and beautified by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
"Apart from a decorative boundary wall, designer paver block footpath, landscaped garden, sitting plaza, a plethora of joyrides for children and musical fountain with LED lighting draw attention to the park," a senior KMDA official said. The park formerly known as Charlie Chaplin Park had been in shambles and had turned into a den of anti-social activities with encroachments here and there.
"It was a long standing demand of the locals to restore the park. The local councillor Sudarshana Mukherjee had written to the minister urging him to revamp it. Work had started in June last year and the first phase of the work has been completed," the KMDA official added.
The shopkeepers, who had set up makeshift shops in the place, have been rehabilitated and provided shops in the form of Banglar Haat at one side in the park.
It may be mentioned that during the Left Front rule, there was a plan to hand over the land to Patha Bhavan school authortities. But later, the idea was abandoned. When Prasanta Chatterjee was the Mayor of the city from 1990 to 2000, he had tried to develop the park but the CPI(M) Kolkata Zilla Committee objected to it and his plans did not materialise. It was during Mayor Subrata Mukherjee's tenure(2003-05) when the filth and garbage was cleaned. In the second phase, at the backside of the park, the KMDA has plans to make a walking space for senior citizens . "It will also involve the rejuvenation of the pond that lies at the back side of the park and the ground. A community centre is also planned to be constructed in the next phase," the official added,
KMDA has already spent Rs 4 crore that involves the completion of the Citzens Park and the basic infrastructure for the second phase work.