Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has removed the view cutter that had obstructed the picturesque view of Elliot Park from the Chowringhee side (JL Nehru Road). The KMC parks department carried out the work after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari expressed dissatisfaction over the structure, which had remained in place for nearly nine years.
Elliot Park, built by the Tata Group, was inaugurated in 2004. In 2013, the KMC took over its maintenance after then chief minister Mamata Banerjee began using the park for her evening walks.
In 2015, the KMC fenced the park after Kolkata Police raised concerns over Banerjee’s security. During the monsoon, the park also faced persistent waterlogging as the adjoining Maidan lacked a proper drainage network, damaging sections of the 2.5-km walking track used by joggers and morning walkers.
The civic body subsequently drew up a renovation plan that included strengthening the base of the track with concrete and relaying it with designer tiles. However, following the security concerns, an iron fence was erected around the park and public access was restricted whenever VVIPs visited in the afternoon. The drainage network was upgraded in haste, while the main water tank near the entrance was cleaned on a war footing.
Although Banerjee later stopped taking her evening walks in the park, the fencing remained until Adhikari questioned the need for retaining it.
Adhikari posted on X: “A view cutter which blocked the Elliot Park view was removed. The natural beauty, greenery and picturesque view of Elliot Park in the Maidan had, until now, been completely hidden from ordinary people by a tall tin fence on the side facing Chowringhee Road, so that the gaze of common folk would not fall upon it while the esteemed former govt officials took their walks there.”