Theatre Rd park fiasco reveals all that’s wrong with urban planning
Times of India | 24 November 2025
Kolkata: The McPherson Square park fiasco is emblematic of everything that is wrong with "public projects" in the country, say residents of Loudon Street and Theatre Road who have always taken the park and its greenery for granted till an ill-advised and misplaced notion of beautification left it ravaged and scarred.
Members of the Sett family, who live in a bungalow diagonally opposite the park, have fond memories of the green space where they grew up and later spent many a carefree evening. They pointed out there was nothing wrong with the park that served as an oasis in the concrete jungle till it was shut early this year, and trees were hacked to pour concrete into the green space.
"We have been living here since 1957. The park has always served as a play area for children and a place to walk for those who wanted to exercise and breathe in fresh air. There was a lot of green cover. Suddenly, all that is gone. You can see the ground that has been laid bare by the digging and construction. It is heartbreaking to see the park in its current state. I can't even recognise it as a park," said a member of the family.
Amada Kidwai, a founder member of green action PUBLIC who has travelled by the park all his life, says the problem is that trees are considered dispensable. "Not just parks, trees are a casualty when roads are widened and pavements are reduced. Even in housing complexes, a section of residents look for excuses to cut trees," she said.
Rishi Kumar, who lives on Rawdon Street, said no one had ever imagined the park would be devastated after it was adopted. "The Nature Study Park that was adopted by the PS Group has been beautifully maintained. Adoption of parks was always about better upkeep and maintenance, and addition of greenery. Felling trees and carrying out construction in a park makes no sense," he said.
Most residents said they were unaware that KMC had handed over the park to someone and that the trees were being cut without permission by a private agency. Several residents had thought KMC was undertaking a water or drainage project, for which a section of the park had been earmarked. They told TOI that had they known it was a private agency causing destruction in the name of beautification, they would have stepped in earlier.
Nearly all of them contend that KMC should have spotted the infringement and stopped it before the damage was done. They also felt cops at the Theatre Road Police Station should have questioned whether formal permission had been sought to cut the trees.
Residents now want the park to be restored at the earliest. They said the green cover needs to be returned, unnecessary concretisation and beautification — like the construction of an elaborate fountain — should be scrapped. "Let the park be a park. It should not become an amusement park. Beautification and development have become synonymous with destruction of green spaces and water bodies throughout the country, especially in urban areas. Citizens have to be vigilant and prevent further encroachment," said engineer, entrepreneur and green activist Dhrubo Mukherjee.