The six clubs along Rabindra Sarobar signed a rent agreement with the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority last week.

This was the first such agreement between the KMDA, the custodians of the water body, and the clubs — Calcutta Rowing Club, Lake Club, Bengal Rowing Club, ILSS or the Anderson Club, Calcutta Sports Association and Lake Friends.

Firhad Hakim, mayor of Calcutta and the state’s urban development minister, was present when the agreement was signed on November 11.

To get to the last three (ILSS or the Anderson Club, Calcutta Sports Association and Lake Friends), one must enter through the gates of the Sarobar. The remaining three are on the banks of the lake, but the entry is not through the Sarobar gates.

The new agreement keeps unaltered all the conditions under which the clubs were allowed to operate earlier, said a KMDA official.

“They will not be able to make any new construction. Only repairs and maintenance work can be done. There are standing orders by the National Green Tribunal prohibiting any new construction at Rabindra Sarobar,” the official said.

The agreement is valid for 10 years with a provision for renewal. After every five years, the rent will rise by 10 per cent.

KMDA sources said some of the clubs said that they entered into lease agreements with the now-defunct Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) several decades ago.

“But they could not produce any documents showing the lease agreements,” he said.

CIT was later renamed Kolkata Improvement Trust (KIT) and then merged with the KMDA.

An official of one of the clubs said the last such agreement was signed “30 years ago”.

The discussions to sign the rent agreement had been going on for over a year.

The KMDA official said the clubs were running without a mutually signed agreement.

“The KMDA had, from time to time, issued directions and letters to the clubs on specific issues or about an increase in rent amount. But there was never any document where both sides signed and agreed to adhere to certain rules. This was necessary. In case any legal dispute arises, the agreement will be called for,” said the official.

He clarified that this was not a lease agreement.

“This is not a lease agreement. This is a rent agreement. A lease agreement would have needed the nod from the state cabinet,” said the official. The rent to be paid in case of a lease agreement would have been higher than the amount payable in a rent agreement, said the official.

The rent fixed in the latest agreement is ₹2.20/sqft for the built area and ₹1.10/sqft for the open space.

Some of the clubs are spread over 80 cottahs (around 11,000sqft).

“The agreement will help all the clubs and the KMDA. Our earlier agreement was with the CIT (which later became KIT). This new agreement clearly demarcates the total area that each club is entitled to. The association between the KMDA and the clubs has been formalised,” said Chandan Roy Choudhury, honorary secretary of the Calcutta Rowing Club.

KMDA sources said the agency was now looking at agreements with the cricket coaching camps operating from Rabindra Sarobar.