On Bhaiphota today, take your brother for a spin on skates at the newest attraction in New Town — ice skating. The city has got itself a functional ice skating rink and it’s right in our backyard. Swirl Eco Iskate has opened outside New Town’s Eco Tourism Park. 

Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), that is in charge of Eco Tourism Park, has associated with a private firm to build the rink, using a public private partnership (PPP) model. Its gates opened during Durga puja.

Calcutta can again try out skating on ice, years after the ice skating rink at Ballygunge shut down.

Technically, the rink does not house a surface made of ice. It is built of an artificial material to cut costs, but visitors are not complaining of the substitution.

Cool classes 

The ice skating rink is next to Eco Tourism Park’s Gate 4 (approaching from the Salt Lake side, this is the first gate of the park). The hanger that houses the rink is made of a mix of fibre glass and polymer. Since the 25mx12m rink does not have ice, the interior is not set to sub-zero temperatures but is comfortably air-conditioned.

After buying tickets, visitors get to slip into ice skating shoes of their size and fasten elbow guards. 

First-timers in the rink are likely to totter around with their flailing hands reaching for the guard rail but they get the hang of it soon. “People who can roller skate have an advantage here as they already have the balance and know the required body movements,” said Rahul Verma, who heads a team of three trainers.

Verma himself has several years of experience in figure-skating and has trained in Shimla for ice-skating. “This artificial surface is friendlier than real ice. The skates create friction on the synthetic ice prompting it to release lubricating oils to make the ice slippery. Still it is less slippery than real ice and therefore is easier for beginners,” he added.

Visitors were having a gala time, sliding and slipping. “It’s mind-blowing,” squealed Sremoyee Ghosh, a 25-year-old IT professional, despite nearly falling down twice. 

But 12-year-old Aditya Thakkar, a resident of New Town, amazed everyone with his confident display. It turned out that he knew how to handle inline roller skates. “I know roller-skating so it was quite easy for me. But the surface here is slippery and takes more balance than is needed in regular skating,” Aditya said.

The rink has started a beginners’ course in ice-skating, spanning eight-hours. “To master the art of gliding, it would take at least three months and to perform complex figures and stunts it could take years of practice. This sport is popular in the West but has yet to catch up in India, particularly in Calcutta, where there was no rink for all these years. I hope many youngsters take it up now,” said Verma.

The construction 

Despite the shutdown of the ice skating rink at Ballygunge, Debashis Sen, the chairman cum managing director of Hidco, is hopeful. “The primary reason the Ballygunge rink had to shut down was because they had to bear astronomical costs to keep the real ice at freezing temperatures. Our rink has artificial ice that does not need constant cooling,” he said. 

Dehradun has an Olympic-sized indoor rink that uses real ice, but two smaller rinks in Gurgaon and Mumbai use the same technology used in New Town. There are four natural outdoor ice rinks in Shimla, Gulmarg, Leh and Kargil too.

The private firm that has built the New Town rink is the Calcutta-based Balasai Earth Movers. “We have spent nearly Rs 2 crore to construct this rink,” said Samiran Dey, director of the company. “This is the first time we have undertaken a project like this and had the synthetic ice sourced from a Switzerland-based company. It is made of solid polymers and the rink is made up of interlocking boards that are self-lubricating to ensure that the surface stays slippery.”

The rink is drawing more than 50 visitors on weekends but the number dwindles during the weekdays. “The understanding with Hidco is such that we pay them rent and we earn our revenue from ticket sales. We are banking on the fact that footfall to Eco Park is increasing day by day. We shall conduct training courses and hold competitions to promote the sport in Calcutta,” said Dey.

GLIDE AND SPIN

Where: Next to Eco Tourism Park’s Gate 4 (approaching from the Salt Lake side, this is the first gate of the park)

When: Tuesday to Sunday

Rates: Weekdays: (11am-4pm): Rs 130 for 30 minutes, Rs 150 for 45 minutes
4pm-8pm: Rs 150 for 30 minutes, Rs 175 for 45 minutes 
Weekends: Rs 175 for 30 minutes, Rs 200 for 45 minutes

 

Beginners’ course 

Duration: Eight hours

Weekdays: Rs 1,000 

Weekends: Rs 1,500

 

Pictures by Amitava Paul