KMDA to carry out overhaul of Rabindra Sarobar Lake premises

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) is set to carry out an overhaul of the roads, paver block pathways and the drainage system of Rabindra Sarobar Lake premises in the next four months.

“The Dhakuria side of the lake has a bituminous road but the Tollygunge side, stretching from the Menoka cinema upto near Tollygunge station, is in a wretched condition.

The road will be spruced up using bitumen and the damages on the paver block pathways on the bank of the lake will be revamped. We are hopeful that in the next four months, the morning walkers and other visitors in the Lake will see a major facelift,” a KMDA official said.

The KMDA has already identified three to four pockets on the road space prone to waterlogging that includes one near the Calcutta Rowing Club, near Bengal

Rowing Club and two others in the Tollygunge side. Work for augmenting the drainage in these pockets will be executed.

“The drainage is made of stone wire pipe which gets clogged due to sedimentation and has developed cracks in some areas. The total revamp work involves a reasonable infrastructure. We are taking up work in phases,” the official said.

The state government has allocated funds of Rs 2 crore for revamp of road and drainage in Rabindra Sarobar.

The KMDA has monitored the dip in water level of the Lake through installation of a special type of gauge at a strategic location and have found that in peak summer the decline has been 2.5 feet which, according to KMDA, is not a cause of concern.

Rain water is the exclusive source of water for Rabindra Sarobar and during dry spells for several days at a stretch, the dip in water level is expected. “If there is no intermediate Norwester, there will be a period when water level may fall upto 2.5 feet.

We have raised the height of the drainage valves at one of the outlet points of Rabindra Sarobar so that it can hold additional water upto 3 feet,” an official said.