24 New Town parks start getting pre-festive season facelift
Times of India | 2 December 2025
Kolkata: Public parks across New Town are set for a major makeover with potted plants in them being replaced by flower beds, fountains being installed in green spaces that have a water body, grasses being trimmed to improve the landscape, furniture being repaired and repainted and lights being installed wherever necessary.
This development comes in the wake of complaints from a section of township residents about the lack of maintenance of parks. There were complaints that far from being safe, some parks had even turned into breeding grounds for mosquitoes due to their poor upkeep.
All 24 parks and gardens in the satellite township including theme parks like Apur Sansar Park, Professor Shanku Park, Sonar Kella Park, Activity Park and Neem Banani will undergo the facelift, an NKDA official told TOI.
One of the biggest grouse that will be addressed is plant pots becoming potential mosquito breeding grounds due the accumulation of water in them. To address the issue, NKDA has decided to do away with all the pots and instead create flower beds in parks. "Saplings of seasonal flowering plants will be planted in these beds," an official said. Different small flower saplings are planted inside the parks, which will be maintained by the authorities.
Extensive lawn mowing will also be carried out in all the parks to trim the grass that have grown too tall, causing fear among residents that they may prove to be a cover for snakes. Creepy crawlies aren't uncommon in the township. NKDA officials said water fountains will be installed in small pools that have been set up in some of the parks.
In many places, the lights inside the parks had become defunct. These lights will be replaced. The walls and premises inside the parks will also be painted to give a vibrant and fresh look. In places where swings, slides and benches are damaged, they will be repaired and upgraded.
Residents welcome the move, pointing out that the facelift was much needed as several green spaces had become unkempt. "After the makeover, the authorities should concentrate on putting a robust mechanism in place for its regular upkeep. NKDA should also look into the improvement of green verges," said Samir Gupta, secretary of New Town Citizens Welfare Fraternity.
Apart from giving a facelift to all the parks, NKDA will also take up work to clean the grown-up bushes and weeds from several vacant areas and green verges in New Town under the Amader Para Amader Samadhan (APAS) scheme.