A view of Captain’s Bheri. Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

After transforming a modest lake and its surroundings into the impressive Eco Tourism Park in New Town, the government is set to give a facelift to another water body. Work has started on Captain’s Bheri, the water body to the left of the EM Bypass for traffic headed south, and it should be ready to reopen as Aqua Hub in three months.

The bheri that is spread over 30 acres and comprises both water and land is already a tourist spot. It falls under the East Calcutta Wetlands that has been designated “a wetland of international importance” under the Ramsar Convention of 2002. “So the work will be done without disturbing the natural habitat of marine life or the ecological balance,” said Soumyajit Das, managing director of State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) that has taken up the work.

Plan of action

Like Eco Tourism Park, Aqua Hub is the brainchild of chief minister Mamata Banerjee who spotted the bheri recently and asked for it to be developed on the lines of the New Town destination. Captain’s Bheri got bifurcated by the Bypass into two water bodies on either side. There are other smaller water bodies on the bheri premises.

While boating is an existing facility at the chosen spot, the service will get a push with upgraded infrastructure, boats and jetties. A floating restaurant would come up too and so would seven cottages in case people coming for picnics want to rest indoors.

“No new structures will be built. The site has some existing permanent structures that were built before the site was declared a Ramsar site under the East Calcutta Wetlands. These will be remodelled. Also these structures are on the embankment area so they have been constructed without damaging the rich microbial bio-diversity of the wetland,” said Sheikh Abul Kasham, chief executive officer of Captain’s Bheri Fishermen Co-operative Society.

The society, the oldest fishermen’s co-operative society of Bengal, was registered in 1927 and the 40-odd fishermen families associated with it today are engaged in pisciculture. They fish in the bheri and sell the produce, which averages 6.5 tonnes per hectare. Though SFDC is beautifying the area, the maintenance of the hub will stay in the hands of the co-operative.

Aqua Hub will also have a room with a huge aquarium fitted into a wall and inside it will be various kinds of fish and multi-coloured molluscs. “We want to encourage pearl culture so there will be a separate room for shells,” said Das. “There would be an audio-visual room too where visitors can watch films on different aspects of marine life. The Aqua Hub would be an amusement park as well as a learning centre.”

There will be a “turtle room” with different varieties of live turtles. Incubators will facilitate captive breeding and their life cycles will be illustrated through models for the benefit of visitors. A hatchery already exists at Captain’s Bheri where induced breeding of fish takes place.

A parking lot would come up to accommodate 50 small vehicles and 10 larger vehicles like buses. “Due to expansion of the Bypass, 30ft of land that was under Captain’s Bheri would be taken up. This would not disturb the water though,” said Das.

Preliminary beautification work has already started and the project should be completed in three months. The cost has been pegged at Rs 1.27 crore.

The other side

While the Aqua Hub will come up on one side of the road, the extension of the bheri on the other side will continue to be a habitat for ducks and fish. Juvenile fish swim on this side of the bheri and once they are older and stronger they are transferred to the other side.

About 100 ducks including some of the Campbell variety and Goose (Rajhans) are being reared in some of the smaller waterbodies. Their eggs are sold in the nearby market.

An office building — that of the assistant director of fisheries, brackish water, South 24-Parganas — lies next to the bheri which will be developed. A narrow pathway connects this building to another — that of the co-operative society — meandering all around the bheri.

“At present people come for picnics and boat rides only in winter. If they develop the place tourists would come round the year and we would make a better living,” said Bijoy Karmakar, a fisherman engaged at Captain’s Bheri. Karmakar lives in Naobhanga, an added area under Bidhannagar Municipality.

Kasham is eager to engage members of their society to maintain the hub once it is ready. “It will help them financially,” he said.

Currently the rate for hiring Captain’s Bheri for a picnic varies from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 depending on the area chosen. Boating costs Rs 50. Cooking facilities are chargeable and there are separate toilets for men and women.

price for Picnic

Location: The water body to the left of the Bypass when heading south from Salt Lake

Existing facilities: Boating and picnic with cooking facilities

Rate: From Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 depending on choice of spot

Booking: On the spot, at Captain’s Bheri Fishermen Co-operative Society

Other picnic spots in the wetlands

Jhagrasish Fisheries

Location- The picnic spot is located near Kulipara that falls under Ward 17 of Bidhannagar Municipality. Take a left turn after the Aajkaal office in Sector V towards Mahisbathan. Cross Khasmahal and the bheri can be seen before Kulipara comes. It’s a 40-minute drive from Sector V.

Facilities- Picnic spot, a room and toilet. If informed beforehand, a local decorator can make cooking arrangements.

Rent- Rs 500. Free for educational institutions

Contact- Co-operative office on location or 9433339701

Sukantanagar Samity Bheri

Location- From the Nicco Park gate, keep to the service road and take the narrow lane on the left at Sukantanagar. It’s a 20-minute ride to reach the bheri.

Facilities- Picnic spot with chargeable cooking facilities. Chairs and tables can be rented and toilets are available.

Rent- Rs 1,000. Half the sum to be paid in advance at the time of booking.

Contact- Rabin Das 9007077229

Natar Bheri

Location- At Trinathpally, under Bidhannagar Municipality. If one is travelling south along the Bypass, one has to turn left after crossing Chingrihata towards Shantinagar. It is a 30- minute drive thereafter.

Facilities- Picnic spot, a room with a kitchen and toilets.

Rent- Rs 800. Half the sum has to be paid at the time of booking.

Contact- Co-operative office on location or 9836547031