“Soundarjo nikuchi korechhe (To hell with aesthetics)!” This was the response of the councillor of Bangur Avenue when she was asked on Monday when a park in Block D, frequented by local residents, would be freed of a colony of encroachers.

The squatters are construction workers engaged at the private multi-storeyed buildings mushrooming in the area. They live in makeshift huts, bathe in the pond and relieve themselves in the public toilet meant for visitors to the park. The park, named Abol Tabol, had opened over 10 years ago with illustrations and installations inspired by Sukumar Roy’s immortal work. It was popular among children and senior citizens of the locality till the colony came up inside about a year and half ago.

A Bangur Avenue ground next to the park, that used to host an annual book fair from 2014 till the pandemic, has turned into a dumping yard too.

Earlier, the area’s garbage would be dumped in a non-residential stretch in Kalindi, near Jessore Road.

A resident of Block D recalled: “There were two dumping grounds near Jessore Road. But now that they have built multi-storeyed housing blocks in that area, possibly the promoters feared that the garbage would drive away potential buyers for the apartments. So they must have influenced the (South Dum Dum) municipality to shift the dumpyard to this ground, right in the middle of a residential area. The stench from the ground is unbearable, and we have to keep our windows shut when the trucks pass by. They drop litter on the road, and no one bothers to clean up afterwards.”

The ground which once hosted the Bangur book fair has now become a dumpyard for garbage and deserted cars

Naren Singh, a door-to-door garbage collector in Block A and Block D, recalled taking his cycle van to the municipality trucks waiting in the neighbourhood. “The trucks would then take it to the compost machine in Jessore Road. But for the last two years, local Trinamul Congress workers have instructed us to dump the trash in the Boi Mela ground. I don’t know why this happened,” he said.

Residents recall visiting the book fair on this ground every winter. It would host other fairs too, including a food festival. “But all such events have stopped after the pandemic,” said a Bangur Avenue Block D resident, who did not wish to be named.

The book fair ground is now a dumping ground. Garbage trucks, most of whose carriages are filled to the brim with uncovered trash picked up from across Dum Dum Park, Lake Town, and Bangur Avenue, now dump it on this ground.

The health centre, which was inaugurated on August 13, 2015 but never became operational

Expanding slum

Over the past couple of years, a colony of construction workers has come up inside the park. Most of these labourers have come from villages and are working at the 18-20 new apartment blocs that are being built by private builders in Bangur Avenue. The occupants number 80-100, as most live here with family.

During the day, they work at their respective construction sites and return at night. They have built makeshift huts and tents on the ground and use a pond, located near the VIP Road canal running from Bangur Avenue to Dum Dum Park, for water supply.

There is a public toilet inside the park, which is mostly used by the labourers now.

Local residents now avoid the park. “My friends and I can’t go to Abol Tabol park anymore as it has become filthy. The workers line up outside the public toilet, mugs in hand. They wash their clothes in the pond and hang them out to dry in the park. They occupy the benches, leaving us no place to sit,” complained a senior citizen of Block C, who has retired from government service.

Many residents said they were embarrassed by the sight of people bathing in the pond. “Women bathe in the open, a sight that makes us uncomfortable. One of them complained to me about mosquitoes in the evening, and asked me to tell the local leaders to spray mosquito repellents,” said a resident of Block D, who comes for daily walks. “I realise they have nowhere else to go, but there must be other arrangements for workers in private projects.”

The compound behind the health centre which has also turned into another garbage dumpyard

Another resident of Block B dreads the stench from the dumping ground. “Every breath triggers a feeling of nausea. How does one relax after a walk? Garbage has been lying here for months, and the slum kids even use the book fair ground and the park to defaecate!”

Health centre shut

About a year ago, the then MLA Sujit Bose inaugurated a health centre next to this park saying it would offer budget-friendly check-ups, especially for senior citizens. But no doctor has ever come visiting and the premises have also turned into an extension of the dumping ground.

A gamchha hung out to dry over a covered seat built for senior citizens in the park

“We thought there would be regular health camps here, but it downed shutters within weeks of the inauguration. Now the place is used for garbage collection, and none of the lights function. God knows what sinister activities happen behind the closed gates at night,” said a housewife who lives next to the park.

Word from municipality

Residents had met Netai Dutta, vice-chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality, with a request to shift the dumping ground out of the residential area. “About six months ago, he promised to shift the dumping ground and the workers’ colony out, but nothing was done,” said Rajesh Jaiswal, a resident of Block A.

In the run-up to the Assembly election, when The Telegraph Salt Lake had contacted local councillor Banasree Chatterjee, she had blamed the mess on the municipality’s conservancy workers, saying that they were busy. “It will all be cleaned up once the elections are over, I assure you,” she had said.

The encroachment has the councillor’s assent. “The labourers have been hired by local contractors, and we have allotted the place to them. They will leave once their work is over,” she said.

Garbage vans parked inside the fair ground

With the elections over, when The Telegraph Salt Lake approached her again on Monday, Chatterjee turned back on her promise. “The park does not belong to anyone in particular. Senior citizens are supposed to walk for a while and leave. Why are they getting so upset about this?” she wondered.

“If I have allowed them to stay there, what is the harm? I don’t care about aesthetics or whether it affects the charm of the park. Soundarjo nikuchi korechhe. We are in the middle of a political turmoil, and things need to settle down first. I can’t guarantee anything.”

A resident of Block A said they had expected the authorities to be more attentive to their needs post-elections. “But nothing has changed. No order has been issued from South Dum Dum Municipality to clear the space or even clean it. This park is soon going to turn into a slum, unless something is done quickly,” she said.

Write to saltlake@abp.in