This story is from December 11, 2016

Sixty and still going: Lake Gardens' change agent

This is neither a club nor an NGO. It's an association -of, by and for the residents of the area. Sixty years have passed, almost in a jiffy, and on Sunday
Sixty and still going: Lake Gardens' change agent
Members of the association at their office
KOLKATA: This is neither a club nor an NGO. It's an association -of, by and for the residents of the area. Sixty years have passed, almost in a jiffy, and on Sunday, when the 500-odd members of the Lake Gardens People's Association celebrate the diamond jubilee of their favourite congress, they give in to nostalgia. There was a time when it was difficult to get brides for grooms in Lake Gardens.
Dirt track that got under knee-deep water during the monsoons, addresses that had no symmetry, overflowing drains and jackals roaming about like dogs were what summed up Lake Gardens, when the association was formed in 1956.
Till 1931, the 176-acre zone that is Lake Gardens today did not have a name. The British had allowed American soldiers to build their vehicle depot in this deeply-forested patch. Later, it was decided that the place could be developed for residential use. Initially, Calcutta Pro perties and then Magneeram Bangur developed the area and started selling residential plots.
When the association came into being, the area was called Lake Colony because of its proximity to the lakes. The mem bers did not like the name and suggestions came up in the meetings. Finally, the name Lake Gardens was decided upon on the lines of Mandeville Gar dens and Ballygunj Gardens.The area came under Calcutta Municipal Corporation a year before the association was for med. Immediately after deciding on the name, the association sent a petition sig ned by all residents saying the records be changed to include the name Lake Gardens. The Corporation finally changed the name of the area into Lake Gardens in April 1970. The name Jodhpur Park (earlier Subodh Mullick Road) came into existence at the same time.
But Lake Gardens neither had a bank nor a post office.Even, the Sealdah-Budge Budge local train did not halt anywhere nearby , because there was no station. So, the association members, led by writer Pramathanath Bishi who was a resident and a prominent member, started activism. People of Tollygunj did not like this and started a counter activism under their leader, MLA Debaprasad Chattopadhyay . Finally both Lake Gardens and Tollygunj stations were born, on the same day .
“For all our banking needs, the nearest bank was Allahabad Bank on Rashbehari Avenue. We desperately needed a bank. Thankfully , our member Nagen Basu, who retired as the deputy chairman of the UBI, helped start a branch, which was the first one in Lake Gardens,“ said Pradip Narayan Banerjee, former president of the association. “Same is the story with the post office,“ added businessman Amit Mukherjee.
“For years, the railway level crossing here was a curse. The gates would shut for even 40 minutes at times because of goods trains. Imagine what we had to face with our patients and children,“ said present president Amitabha Dutta Gupta.Through the 80s and 90s, the association did a lot of activism and submitted several signed petitions to the Eastern Railways. “Every morning we stood at the station to collect signatures.Nothing seemed to budge, but we didn't lose hope. Finally we were able to catch the attention of the then PWD minister, Jatin Chakraborty , though the flyover became a reality much later during Buddha babu's time in 2004,“ said Mohan Maitra, who retired from ITC.
But that ended the woes partially. Even though the level crossing is shut to cars, bicycles and bikes now, pedestrians still slide in from the sides and accidents are frequent. The association demands an underpass.“The railways agreed to bear 50% of the expenses and the state government had to bear the rest. An amount of Rs 1.80 crore had been disbursed by the Centre and the state PWD had also agreed to do its bit. But we hear that though the tender was advertised, no one bid for it,“ rued Tejamoy Basu, a retired banker. But the members are preparing to push harder when they find time from their present project -getting the KMC to supply filtered water from Garden Reach to Lake Gardens.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA