Agnimitra Paul during her visit to the Lake on Wednesday
The open spaces were not maintained earlier; those have been maintained but a lot is still left,” Paul said. She said that there are several grounds within the lake premises that have been leased out but some were not paying rent to the govt. Officials said that as per their directives, the mosque inside the lake premises has closed the use of the urinals. “The effluent discharge from the mosque has now been prevented as they have stopped using the urinals as directed by KMDA,” said an official.
“I have come after some time; a lot of work has been done and more work will be done. I had asked for a separate seating area for senior citizens; a sample has been shown to me there; there will be more seating areas for senior citizens. In many places the paver blocks were uneven; those have been fixed; I did not see many uneven paver blocks. Paul, accompanied by KMDA officials, inspected the entire lake premises riding a battery-operated cart. “Some are paying rent to the govt for taking a lease but some are not paying. The licence and lease will be cancelled for those who will not pay the rent,” the minister warned. The minister instructed KMDA officials to see if the gallery could be further upgraded and also asked officials to set up the proposed lake archive.
Kolkata: State urban development & municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul on Wednesday made a surprise visit to Rabindra Sarobar to take stock of the present condition of the lake and whether any steps had been taken on the instructions she had given during her earlier visit in June.