Urban Parks Conservation
Know your park
Kolkata city’s urban parks provides the city with several ecosystem functions and enables it to strive for a rich urban biodiversity and ecological balance. Neighbourhoods across the 16 Boroughs and 144 Wards are dotted with big and small urban neighbourhood parks, counting to 750 plus numbers. They give the city its best possibility for greening and planting of trees.
These Parks are urban biodiversity hotspots, and enable climate change mitigation and adaptation; abetment of environmental, especially vehicular, pollution; ground water re-charging; oxygen for breathing; and city commons for the multi-cultural Kolkatans to reach out to each other to forge a unified common identity, and others.
These Parks are maintained and owned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporations (KMC), Kolkata city’s own Local Self Governing (LSG) body.
CCCkolkata is working with KMC and the local community in the conservation of these Urban parks.
In 2011 – the first self-funded Survey of the Parks was conducted by ccckolkata. Photographs and GPS readings of the Parks were taken. cccolkata covered almost 95% of the Parks. A Parks Map was published by ccckolkata with support from TATA STEEL. A First-Ever Kolkata Parks Directory was published with names of each of the Parks listed under the Burroughs. On World Environment Day 2011 in partnership with the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) the Parks Map and the Parks Directory was dedicated to the residents of this city by the MMiC (Member, Mayor In Council) of KMC, Shri. Debashish Kumar.
In 2012 – the Parks list was updated by ccckolkata through a process of review of the List by the Borrough Chairperson and the Executive Engineer of Each of the 15 Borroughs of KMC. Some more Parks were added to the List. An updated edition of the Directory was published.
In 2014 – a third Survey of the Kolkata Parks was undertaken by ccckolkata. This was with technical guidance from ISRO-RRSC.
In 2017 – GPS readings have been plotted by ISRO-RRSC on a satellite image and map of KMC on their Bhuban platform.
CCCkolkata’s Survey results and publications are being used by KMC Parks and Gardens Department, and others.