All water sports and boat rides at New Town’s Eco Park have been stopped for the time being.

The move comes two days after four-year-old Sheikh Abez drowned in one of the 11 water bodies in the 480-acre entertainment park.

Kayaking, zorbing and speedboat ride are some of water activities the park offers. Most of the activities take place at the park’s largest water body, which spreads 112 acres. Some take place on another pond.

An official of Hidco, the agency that maintains the park, said water sports and other water activities have been suspended because the ponds would be cleaned.

“Several teams will be deployed for the clean-up and that will take a few days because of the sheer size of the park,” the official said.

A notice issued by Hidco on Monday read: “All visitors are hereby informed that due to emergency repair and maintenance the boat rides and other water rides in Eco Park will remain suspended from 19-11-2019 until further order.”

The decision to suspend the activities, the official said, was taken at an emergency review meeting held by senior Hidco officials.

The pond where Abez died is covered with water hyacinth, which blends perfectly with the green banks. Many suspect that the child failed to realise that he was stepping into water because of the hyacinth cover.

A park official had told Metro on Sunday that the management had planned to clean the pond on Monday.

Police probe

A team from the Bidhannagar commissionerate has spoken to guards of the park to find out the sequence of events leading to the drowning of the boy from Narkeldanga.

“The guards told us that apart from fanning out on the campus, they looked for him outside. They made repeated announcements and also alerted cops at the Eco Park police outpost,” an officer of the commissionerate said.