Rabindra Sarobar, the second largest open space in the city after the Maidan, will no longer remain a free strolling zone. The Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) is planning to introduce an entry fee from next year.
To keep the fee as low as possible, the CIT, which owns the Lakes, and the urban development department have decided to hike the lease amount and licence fees for the clubs on the banks.
The entry fee is being introduced as the CIT is in need of funds for the upkeep of the Lakes. Maintenance of the waterbody and its surroundings costs Rs 90 lakh a year, while the earning from the zone is just Rs 34 lakh. The balance is coughed up by the CIT.
Acting on orders from the urban development department, the CIT has also taken up a scheme for beautifying the Lakes. A major part of the Rs 4-crore project will be funded by money the CIT got under the Centre?s National Lake Conservation Scheme.
Experts from Jadavpur University (JU) are acting as consultants.
?We had invited tenders from engineering institutions, as private firms demand an exorbitant fee for consultation. Apart from JU, the institutes that took part in the bidding included IIT Kharagpur and Bengal Engineering and Science University,? said CIT chairman Ashok Chatterjee.
?We will present our development scheme to the CIT on Tuesday,? said Asish Majumdar, of JU?s water resources department.
The arts and engineering faculty of the university will monitor the implementation of the beautification scheme.
Work will start soon after the Assembly polls and will continue for about six months.
Rabindra Sarobar is spread over 192 acres, of which 119 acres are land. The CIT is in direct possession of 76 acres and the rest is occupied by over 20 clubs. A CIT engineer said almost all the clubs are violating the terms agreed upon while lease was granted to them.
Land was allotted to the clubs on condition that the height of their boundary walls would not be more than 1.5 metres. But three-metre-high walls are now a common sight in the area. Some of the clubs have even constructed two-storeyed structures, though no pucca construction is allowed on the Lakes banks.
