Stray dog menace: Bar on visitors with food at Eco Park

Kolkata: Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation ( Hidco) will not allow visitors to carry food to the Eco park, the country's biggest urban park from December 20.

The decision has been taken after it is found that if the visitors are allowed to carry food inside the park then the leftover poses a serious threat.

Cleaning the area, which covers 410 odd acres, becomes a major problem with increasing stray dog and rat menace.

Hidco authorities have made elaborate arrangements to ensure that the visitors do not face any problem in getting food. Three food courts will come up near the seven wonders, near gate number 2 and close to the Eiffel Tower. A total of 40 stalls will come up selling different types of mouth-watering dishes. All the stalls have been sold out. There will arrangements so that the visitors get adequate drinking water .Two new pay and use toilets have come up. Two gates, namely, gate number 3 and 4 have been upgraded.

Eco Park has become a major destination in and around Kolkata since its opening in January, 2013.

The footfall has reached a staggering 1.30 crore. On December Christmas and New Year the footfall vary anything between 1 lakh to 1.30 lakh. Special arrangements are made to assist the people. Temporary watch towers are set up and elaborate traffic plans are made to maintain smooth flow of traffic along the Biswa Banga Sarani. Series of meetings have been by the Hidco officials to make hassle free Christmas and New Year.