Morning walkers back on track in Kolkata

"We have decided to give them a three-hour window every day, after having ensured that necessary safety measures were in place," KMDA CEO Antara Acharya told PTI. Environmentalist S M Ghosh, a local resident and a regular at Rabindra Sarobar, said, "We carried sanitiser bottles during our walks by the lake, which had been out of bounds since the lockdown began.

Morning walkers in Kolkata breathed a sigh of relief as the administration here reopened Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar -- two lakes surrounded by vast stretches of greenery - with certain curbs in place. Both the lakes will throw open gates for three hours every day from 5.30 am.

Several people were seen stretching themselves or taking a stroll by the two lakes early on Thursday. Sudhin Nandy, the executive engineer of KMDA, said, "Around 1,500 people had visited Rabindra Sarobar on Thursday morning, 700 more than what it was on the first day. The figures were more or less the same at Subhas Sarobar, too." Security personnel and KMDA staff are continuously manning the two lakes to ensure people abide by the safety guidelines, Nandy added.

Over the past two months, many green activists and fitness enthusiasts had been pleading with the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority - the custodian of the two lakes - to allow morning strolls by the waterside for a restricted period of time, official sources said. "We have decided to give them a three-hour window every day, after having ensured that necessary safety measures were in place," KMDA CEO Antara Acharya told PTI.

Environmentalist S M Ghosh, a local resident and a regular at Rabindra Sarobar, said, "We carried sanitiser bottles during our walks by the lake, which had been out of bounds since the lockdown began. Morning walk will boost our immunity system." He, however, rued that Cyclone Amphan had uprooted several trees in the 73-acre premises, home to a variety of bird species. "Several broken branches are still lying inside the park. Those have to be removed. Air quality has substantially improved in the city, amid the lockdown. And that is a welcome change," he added.

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