A new police station will be set up for Rabindra Sarobar and adjoining areas, Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

"People go for morning walk there... we need a police station," she said while announcing the government's decision at Nabanna.

The police station would primarily cover the 7,77,000sq m lake and the areas surrounding it.

Thousands of people visit the Sarobar premises every day for morning and evening walk. But visitors say a spike in the incidents of snatching, teasing and theft have made the place unsafe.

"I go to the Lakes for my morning walk. There is lot of greenery and the air is fresh," said homemaker Jyoti Sharma of Southern Avenue.

"But of late I find a number of young men teasing women. I have also heard about several instances of snatching.... The area has become unsafe."

Last year, an evening walker was groped and molested on the banks of the lake near Nazrul Mancha.

Currently, Rabindra Sarobar is in the Lake police station area.

The police station, under Dhakuria bridge, is more than 4km from the Russa Road-end of the lake, near Rabindra Sarobar Metro station.

An official said the decision to set up the police station was taken at a Cabinet meeting in Nabanna. "There have been several complaints about deteriorating law and order on the Sarobar premises and adjoining areas," he said.

"Most complaints are about theft and snatching. So, setting up a police station tops our priority."

The green oasis is flanked by Southern Avenue on the north, Russa Road on the west, Dhakuria on the east and the Calcutta suburban railway tracks on the south.

By police estimates, the Sarobar plays host to 1,000-odd morning walkers, around 500 evening walkers and hundreds of couples daily.

Mudar Patherya, a Rabindra Sarobar enthusiast, said: "I welcome the move provided the police give us a commitment that they will stop eunuchs from extorting money from couples."

The police should take action against those hacking trees in the area, Patherya said.

The jurisdiction and the location of the police station is yet to be fixed, an officer in Lalbazar said. "The suggestion to carve a new police station out out of Lake police station was in the pipeline for two years." The number of police stations in the city will go up to 70 with the setting up of Rabindra Sarobar police station.