Rabindra Sarobar will undergo a fresh tree audit and tree-numbering exercise after state urban development minister Agnimitra Paul directed Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) officials to document the 192-acre public park’s existing trees during a visit on Wednesday.
Paul asked officials to affix numbers to the trees and identify their varieties so visitors can learn more about the park’s plant life. KMDA, which is the custodian of Rabindra Sarobar, said its last tree audit was conducted in 2021, when the park had around 9,000 trees.
A senior KMDA official said the number has since changed because additional trees have been planted while others have died. “By our estimate, the total count of trees now will be close to 11,000,” the official said. KMDA will invite the West Bengal Biodiversity Board to conduct the fresh audit, according to the official.
Rabindra Sarobar contains a lake at its centre and includes common timber trees such as mahogany, tamarind and different species of siris. Environmentalists also identified spring-blooming species including Palash, Ashok, Simul and Radhachura, along with native varieties such as Parul and Amaltas. The park also has a Miyawaki forest.
During her visit, Paul travelled through the park on a battery-powered cart and interacted with visitors, including senior citizens who raised complaints about uneven paver blocks on walkways. She instructed officials to repair the damaged stretches. Some visitors also complained about people climbing the boundary wall along the railway track and creating a nuisance.
Paul directed officials to address unkempt trees, remove undergrowth in some patches and warn visitors against littering. The instructions place the proposed tree audit alongside routine maintenance and visitor-management concerns at one of Kolkata’s major public open spaces.
The minister also asked KMDA to review the status of clubs operating inside Rabindra Sarobar on lease and check whether they were complying with the terms of their agreements. She said agreements could be cancelled where clubs had defaulted on rent and the spaces could be handed to others, according to the report.
Paul visited the Calcutta Rowing Club and Lake Club, asking officials to keep areas near their entrances and outside their boundary walls clean. During her previous visit in June, she had asked KMDA to examine the clubs’ sewage-disposal systems and determine whether any effluents were entering the lake.
Chandan Roy Chowdhury, secretary of the Calcutta Rowing Club, told the minister that the parking area, service road and drainage line between the two clubs were not cleaned regularly. He also raised the presence of hawkers around the boundary wall and sought help in keeping the area outside the club premises clean. The next formal step is KMDA’s invitation to the West Bengal Biodiversity Board for the fresh audit.
