At Rawdon Square

 

In the heart of the city, on south of Park Street, is a patch of green that was on the verge of being converted to another concrete jungle. Thanks to some prolonged green activism and the National Green Tribunal, the 12,000 square metre Rawdon Square is now a hub for some diverse avian species, creepy crawlies, molluscs and bees, tall wild grasses and trees and an 8000 square metre pond that nurtures biodiversity in the heart of surrounding multistorieds. On a Saturday winter morning, some nature enthusiasts along with a handful of school children armed with binoculars and cameras made their way to Rawdon Square to spot some of its inhabitants and they were amply rewarded.

With the South Park Street cemetery right beside it, Rawdon Square now gets and is home to several bird species with tall trees like kadam, simul, champa, mango, and blackberry lining the park. The placid waters of the pond reflect the trees in the square along with the tall houses surrounding it. The waterbody is now partly filled with wild kash grass which has cormorants perching on it. Dipping its neck into the water, a pankouri swims by trying to find a feed. Another Little Cormorant alights on a twig and spreads its wings majestically to dry its feathers in the wintry sun. Participants of the All Women Nature Walk (AWNW) watch all this while listening to the call of a Lineated Barbet that had perched itself on a nearby supari tree. Soon enough the bird was spotted with its brilliant green plume pecking on the bright red berries. 

Not just cormorants, the tall brown grasses on the pond camouflage the grey feathered pond heron that sits on a twig looking out for a good catch. A Black Bittern too hide among the tall grasses. "It is extremely rare to spot Black Bittern in city environs. I am very surprised to find the bird here. It says a lot about the rich biodiversity of the area," said Chai E Law, the organiser of AWNW, Calcutta chapter. There are also the White Breasted Waterhens nearby that waddle to the water edge with their long webbed feet and swim across the pond. The Black Crowned Night Heron perches nearby as water spiders skim the water's surface. A white-breasted brilliant blue-plumed kingfisher swooped down from a nearby tree. A large Coucal filled the air with its plaintive call.

The edges of the pond are also home to several molluscs and crawlers. A pile of freshwater shells on the banks is spotted. "These are rich in calcium for the plants and the birds," pointed out Chai. A small derelict structure on the edges of the park has paper wasps building their nest. Empty bee hives abound.

"It is heartening to have a nature walk right in the heart of the city. We scout for spaces to have our walks and Rawdon Square in the south of the city was an easy destination," she said.

But about three decades ago, in the 1980s, the then-state government proposed to turn the square into a cultural zone. After a strident opposition from political parties as well as citizens and green activists, the plan was shelved but the park remained under lock and key. Later, another attempt was made to turn it into a parking lot. That too was averted after a petition was filed by Bonani Kakkar-led NGO PUBLIC with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal ordered a restoration and re-opening of the square. With pressure from Kakkar and the citizens, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation finally restored and reopened the square in 2021 after removing truckloads of construction debris. However, the piles made along the central line of waterbody could not be removed and so the pond is now split into two with wild grass sown on the bund to create an embankment. It is a park with morum roads around it, the pond embankments remain of earth and the rich bio-diversity is because of these very natural surroundings.