Encroachment on Vivekananda Park. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Shanties, unauthorised concrete structures, a khatal, a public toilet, a garbage dump with a popular cricket academy and a football coaching centre — all on a 457,000 sq ft patch of green called Vivekananda Park. Named after Swami Vivekananda on the occasion of his birth centenary in 1962, the park on Southern Avenue was once the preferred destination for locals. Now, it is a playground with problems by day and a den of vice by night.

The khatal at Vivekananda Park

Vivekananda Park is home to 300-odd encroachers who have built shanties and concrete structures along its north-eastern boundary. “Eta ki Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) -er babar sampatti?” protests Nabita, one of the settlers, living here for the past 22 years. “We have not been allowed here free of cost… We have paid a local political leader,” she claims. She, however, will not divulge the name of the benevolent one.

Besides the shanties, there is a khatal inside the park, a rundown CMC public toilet and an overflowing vat. And the sprawling greens are, of course, used as a vast open-air toilet by “residents” and passers-by alike.

Amidst this squalor and stench, the Mainland Sambaran Cricket Academy continues its quest for the next Sourav Ganguly. Every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, the budding cricketers do their bit to try and keep the grounds clean and play-worthy, but to little avail. “The CIT does nothing to maintain the park but it has recently proposed to hike the rent from Rs 17,500 per year to over Rs 2 lakh. On what grounds are they asking for so much money?” rages former Bengal skipper Sambaran Banerjee.

And then there is the khatal. “The owner lets the cattle loose on the ground and they invariably get in our way,” rues Sandeep Yadav, a cricket trainee. Pollution Control Board member Biswajit Mukherjee says: “Khatals are banned in city and if any khatal is running in Vivekananda Park, it is illegal.” But if you choose not to see it, how can you stop it? “The khatal has long been removed by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) and I have no news of any new ones in the park,” claims local Trinamul councillor Baiswanor Chatterjee. [Dear Councillor Sir, the picture below of the khatal was taken on July 21]

If the squalor is the prime problem while the sun is up, after sundown the park turns into a dark den of crime. Residents of the Central Government staff quarters facing the park fear venturing near it after dark. “All kinds of nefarious activities, including drinking and drugs, go on in the park,” said S. Ghosh, a resident.

CITspeak

CIT deputy chief engineer Biswanath Sen holds out little hope for the park. “In the Seventies, several homeless families from Bangladesh started living inside the park and they have stayed on… We plan to construct a road around the park. We hear that there are khatals inside. They will be removed by the civic body.”

CMCspeak

Faiyaz Ahmed Khan, mayoral council member in charge of parks and gardens, feels the answer lies in a change of management. “If the CIT can’t maintain the park, they should hand it over to us.”

Talat Salahuddin