Large parts of Deshapriya Park, a favourite playground for countless morning walkers and the training venue for several cricket clubs, continue to remain off-limits because litter and remnants of the Durga Puja pandal are still lying across the northern stretch of the ground.
Although more than 45 days have passed since Puja ended, the affected areas have yet to be cleared or restored, leaving both regular visitors and club officials frustrated.
A morning walker said the entire portion extending from the northern end of the pitch was still inaccessible. Remnants of the pandal — including plywood planks, waste material and other leftovers — remain scattered all over that zone. This part of the park also has tall, overgrown grass as the area has been lying unused for months. Piles of garbage continue to line the southern edge of the park as well.
Deshapriya Park in bad condition
Deshapriya Park is used by four cricket clubs: Monohorpukur Milan Samity, Dakshin Kalikata Sansad, Ballygunge Sports Association and Excelsiors.
An official associated with one of the clubs said they were not in a position to conduct proper fielding and catching practice for their trainees or for players who are scheduled to represent the club in upcoming tournaments.
“The annual cricket season run by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has already started, but we cannot hold full training sessions because of the present condition of the ground. Deshapriya Park has not hosted a single match this season since the ground is still far from match-ready,” he said.
A CAB official agreed. He stated that not a single match of the ongoing knock-out tournament, the JC Mukherjee Trophy, could be scheduled at Deshapriya Park this year. “For the past few years, we have not been able to schedule matches at the ground before December or January. It is clear now that the ground will not be ready in November. We have discussed this repeatedly with the clubs using the ground, but nothing seems to change,” the official said.
Another CAB official said that the association does not communicate directly with Puja organisers. Instead, it asks the clubs to restore the ground after Puja. “The clubs are helpless in this situation. They can hardly do anything if the Puja organisers do not dismantle the pandal properly or clean the ground afterwards,” he said.
Regular visitors to the park said the pandal was dismantled completely only around 10 days ago. Bamboo poles were still stacked on the ground as late as November 11, one visitor recalled.
Sudipta Kumar, the secretary of Deshapriya Park Durga Puja, could not be contacted on Tuesday.
Debashis Kumar, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) mayoral council member in charge of parks and squares, said the ground would be cleared soon. “The KMC has asked the Puja committee to clean the ground. A lot of work has already been completed. What has been done is better than how many other parks have been cleaned,” he said.
After the ground is fully cleared of waste, the cricket clubs are expected to start the restoration process. “It will take about a fortnight to restore the field. The holes created by bamboo poles used for the pandal have to be filled with soil. Uneven and undulating parts of the ground must be flattened using rollers. The pitch will also need repair before matches can resume,” said
a club official.