Central Park situated in

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

is a public

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

. It is also known as ''Banabitan''. It is the third largest open space in

Kolkata Metropolitan Area The Kolkata Metropolitan Area (abbreviated KMA; formerly Calcutta Metropolitan Area), also known as Greater Kolkata, is the urban agglomeration of the city of Kolkata (Calcutta) in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the third most populous ...

after the Maidan and Eco Park. This park is easily reachable from the Karunamoyee Bus Terminus in

. Central Park metro station and depot of Green Line are located here. On the roads surrounding the park are the buildings where the West Bengal government has relocated many government departments. Central Park Lake view

The park is built around an expansive water body. There is a bridge which connects on side of the lake to an island which has a pagoda. The lake serves as a haven for water birds like lesser whistling duck,

common moorhen The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the Rail (bird), rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-ve ...

white-breasted waterhen The white-breasted waterhen (''Amaurornis phoenicurus'') is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. The ...

, rufous treepie,

cattle egret The cattle egret (formerly genus ''Bubulcus'') is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan clade of heron (family (biology), family Ardeidae) in the genus ''Ardea (genus), Ardea'' found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. Ac ...

cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

and other species. There are also boating facilities in a cordoned off section of the lake near the rose garden. The park has a very beautiful rose garden (near Gate No.1, opposite of Bikash Bhawan). The rose garden is bordered by rows of hedges surrounding the rose plants. When in bloom, the

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

flowers present a delightful sight. The park's butterfly gardenLesley D Biswas, (Vol 5 Issue 39, 26 Sep – 2 Oct 2014
"Feel the pulse of the ecosystem from the flutter of butterflies"
''The Weekend Leader''. has several species of butterflies. The butterfly garden consists of several plots where shrubs and trees on which butterflies and their larvae (caterpillar) feed, have been planted. Dedicated gardeners maintain these areas under the guidance of
Nature Mates - Nature Club
The West Bengal Forest Dept. supports this initiative. The butterfly garden can be easily reached after entering the park from Gate No.1 and then taking a right from the main walking track.

Central Park Metro Depot

Almost half of the Central Park was torn down to build a metro depot and car shed to serve Kolkata's most ambitious metro corridor, the Green Line. The depot has been operational since 2018. The depot adjoins

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

metro station.

Banabitan Biodiversity Park

The Central Park is officially known as Banabitan Biodiversity Park. This park is maintained by West Bengal Forest Department. The park has two large waterbodies.

Gallery

File:Central Park Kolkata Lake.JPG, A view of the lake File:Butterfly garden path.JPG, Path leading into the butterfly garden area File:Central Park Boating Area.JPG, Boating area File:Banabitan Rose Bush.JPG, Roses in bloom in the park's rose garden File:Central Park Kolkata marigolds.JPG, Marigold flowers File:Ripe Jamun Fruits.JPG, Ripe jamun fruits File:Central Park Kolkata Egrets.JPG,

Cattle egret The cattle egret (formerly genus ''Bubulcus'') is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan clade of heron (family (biology), family Ardeidae) in the genus ''Ardea (genus), Ardea'' found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. Ac ...

s File:Central Park - Lesser Whistling Duck.JPG, Lesser whistling ducks File:Central Park Kolkata Cormorants.JPG, Cormorants File:Yellow-footed Green Pigeon.JPG, Yellow-footed green pigeons File:Central Park Black Drongo.JPG, Black drongo File:Common Moorhen.JPG, Common moorhen File:Central Park Intermediate Egret.JPG, Intermediate egret File:Alexandrine Parakeets.JPG, Alexandrine parakeets File:White-throated Kingfisher pair.JPG, Pair of white-throated kingfishers File:Plain Tiger Butterfly.JPG, Plain tiger File:Hypolimnas bolina on Lantana sp. .jpg, Great eggfly File:Blue Tiger butterfly.JPG, Blue tiger File:Plains Cupid (Chilades pandava).JPG, Plains Cupid File:White Breasted Waterhen 2.jpg, White Breasted Waterhen File:White Breasted Waterhen 4.jpg, White Breasted Waterhen File:Common Jay.JPG, Common jay File:Rufous Treepie 4.jpg, Rufous Treepie File:Rofus Treepie 5.jpg, Rufous Treepie

References

{{commons Parks in Kolkata