Rabindra Sarobar

Rabindra Sarobar (formerly known as Dhakuria Lake) is an artificial lake, garden and park in South Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. The name also refers to the area surrounding the lake. It is flanked by Southern Avenue to the north, Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Road to the west, Dhakuria to the east and the Kolkata Suburban Railway tracks to the south.
In the early 1920s, the Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT), a body responsible for developmental work in the Kolkata metropolitan area, acquired about 192 acres (0.78 km) of marshy jungles. Their intention was to develop the area for residential use – improving the roads, raising and levelling some of the adjacent land and building lakes and parks. Excavation work was undertaken with the plan of creating a huge lake. The excavation of the lake was led by CIT's first chairman Cecil Henry Bompass, Kolkata Municipal Corporation's chief-engineer M.R. Atkins and a young Bengali passout from Shibpur B.E. College Prabodh Chandra Chatterjee and initially it was known as Bompass Lake. Originally known as Dhakuria Lake, in May 1958, CIT renamed the lake as Rabindra Sarovar, as a tribute to Bengali writer and Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. The area around this excavated lake was later developed to build recreational complexes, which included children's parks, gardens and auditoria.
Today the lake and its surrounding areas are one of the most popular recreational areas in Kolkata. 73 acres (300,000 m) are covered by water, while shrubs and trees, some of which are more than 100 years old, occupy the rest of the area. A partial tree census in 2012 recorded 50 different species. In the winter, one can spot some migratory birds around the lake, though the numbers are dwindling because of the rise in pollution level. The lake itself is home to many varieties of fish. Fishing is strictly prohibited. A number of people come for a walk around the lake in the mornings to enjoy the fresh air. Many visit the sunrise point to offer their prayers to the sun. During the day, it is visited by families on a picnic, tourists, young lovers and joggers.
Like a majority of artificial lakes in the country, Rabindra Sarovar is suffering from environmental degradation. Water pollution is on the rise, owing to an increase in tourist flow and habitation around the lake. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has recently included this lake in the National Lake Conservation Plan in the hope that this will help preserve it. The local authorities have also begun an extensive tree plantation program. Dumping of garbage in the lake is the main problem of degradation of Rabindra Sarobar.
Rabindra Sarovar is 30 km away from Dum Dum airport and 12 km from the Howrah railway station.
The area is served by the Rabindra Sarobar metro station of the Kolkata Metro and Lake Gardens and the Tollygunge station of the Kolkata suburban railway (Budge Budge section). It is one of the few points where the two railway systems interface (another being Dum Dum and New Garia). The area of Rabindra Sarobar is also well-connected with a bus route. Located in South Kolkata the area is properly connected and is counted as a tourist spot.
The lake and the surrounding green occupy 192 acres. The water body is 73 acres while the green cover is 119 acres and supports bio-diversity.
The region attracts a wide range of local and migratory birds. 107 species of birds were recorded in 2019, which includes 69 resident birds, 14 local migrants, 23 long distant migrants and one summer visitor have been recorded in 2019. In 2021 a total of 118 species of birds were recorded in Rabindra Sarobar. The number was 116 in 2022. In 2023 (till October) the number stood at 110. In 2023 the migratory birds have appeared early and the transit migrants are staying for a longer period. The area also has 13 species of dragonflies.
The green cover has 11,000 trees of which 7,500 are over 75 years old. The trees include palash, African tulip (rudra palash), ashok, shimul which bloom during the spring. Rabindra Sarobar is also home to a wide variety of fungi which thrive during the monsoon season. They generally grow on the dead and decaying logs. The most common fungi of Rabindra Sarobar include dead man's fingure, wine glass, bracket fungus, ink cap, split gill, puffball and many more.