Parking lot thrives on dead lake

While the plans for the development of the area through public and private partnerships remain confined to government files, the lake premises are now being used as a parking lot —- courtesy Kolkata Police and the cinema complexes that have come up close to the lake.

The problem
Far from being a cheerful site for visitors, ever since Swabhumi and 89 Cinemas came up near the lake, the lake premises have become a car-parking area for the cine-goers, especially on weekends. Local boys from Sharda Club and Naba Yubak Brinda Club have taken over a certain stretch within the lake premises and operate the car park from there. They have no due permission from the KMC or from the Kolkata traffic police.
Further, whenever there is a state government event at the Salt Lake stadium, the Kolkata police use this area for car parking. During the Kolkata Book Fair held recently, about 50-60 cars were parked on the lake premises everyday.

What locals say
Security guards at the Swabhumi parking lot admitted that the local youths at Subhas Sarovar often threaten the car owners to cough up more money. “We provide free parking at Swabhumi and if people want to park their cars at the lake, we cannot be held responsible,” said a security guard. Dilip Pal, a resident of AB Block in Salt Lake said that he was forced to pay Rs 40 for two hours of parking. “It is not a KMC-authorised parking lot and these anti-social elements had no right to demand money from me. Such incidents often happen,” he said. A number of residents also complained that they felt the area was unsafe as local goons kept loitering in the area till late in the night.
The locals complain that the lake has become inaccessible during the movie shows in the evenings. Environmentalists argue that parking of cars in such huge numbers would add to the pollution besides driving away all the nesting birds. “I come for my evening walk here everyday. But I guess this little stretch of left land will also be converted into a parking area soon,” said Sidhu Chakraborty, a resident of Beliaghata.