Newtown : Lacks foresightedness

That day I was on a long drive through Newtown, its  City Centre to VIP Road which leads to Airport. While passing through the New upcoming township of Kolkata, my daughter just snapped some photogrphs  of the township from the car on move. Few of them are posted below :

The thousands of acres of fertile land will soon be turned into a concrete jungle. This vast greenery was very close to the city of Kolkata,  was acting like lungs of the old city, but the Government decision was one sided like Singur. They never thought of  environmental and other aspects which came up later at  Singur.

Way to Airport, before reaching to congested area like VIP Road. Now Only cars move on this road .

The Governments and their officials are very short sighted. They don’t even see which is visible in other part of India. In fact this township should not have planned in the current location because it is too near to Airport and the most populated areas. This should have planned at least  40- 50 KM away from the city.  The shortsighted town planners,  should have seen how the second township of Bombay, the New Bombay, had been planned. The New Bombay is far from crowded Bombay but well connected  by rail and roads . The local train stations of Navi Mumbai (New Bombai) is far better or equally good at par with  Kolkata Metro Sations now.

Newtown Kolkata : An upcoming township

I have seen New Bombay and its connectivity with the old Bombay. Thats why I think, the Singur or some place  at that distance should have been a right place for this township.  Singur controversy came because the land was acquired by the Govt. but for a Industrialist and over the selection of  the most fertile land. Once I was passing through Singur,  when the the Nano factory was under construction. I saw the entire area was paddy fields  and was full of green due to  grown up paddy and it was really a panoramic view. The healthy paddy itself  was showing the fertility of the land. It was very much disturbing for me to see concrete structures amidst such lush greenery.  Only enemies of humanity  can damage such a vast fertile land.  Those beautiful lands could have been saved had the movement started at the initial stage. The issue has been discussed in length in the all media, so I should not divert the issue and make it lengthier. My only point is that those fertile lands should have spared which now the Govt. has realised but it is too late. Let me come back to the point , the Newtown.

Newtown

The VIP Road and its adjoining areas are already over populated and with narrow roads and lot many crossings on the VIP Road, traffic chaos are at maximum. The Newtown population will be added to the present population of the adjoining areas, then what will be the condition of that area …… I can’t think.  The Township will  be surrounded by the thickly populated areas. The Airport is too near but it will be  too far to reach. There are plans to build some roads which will connect New Town and the Jessore Road from the back side of the Airport. But the jessore road or the VIP Road are not fit for the 21st century township. This is where the shortsightedness of the planners are exposed. They have planned a township without developing the infrastructures. Here everything comes in pieces, as and when required basis.

Here in West Bengal, all developments are Kolkata-centric thats why in west Bengal, we dont’ have a second city like Pune for Maharashtra. Burdwan or Durgapur or Siliguri should have  been developed in that line but we are unfortunate when we look at the  villages where no developments took place for their basic necessities.

City Centre Newtown. The greenery and the tiny villages in the sight from the City Centre now,  will be gradually covered by concrete jungle.

On that momentous day of 15th. Aug 1947

IT WAS A CELEBRATION OF FREEDOM :

At the midnight when the Union Jack was replaced with Indian Flag at Raj Bhavan, the atmosphere throbbed with ear shattering sounds of cheer and sloganeering. The gates of Raj Bhavan, Kolkata (then Calcutta) were thrown open for Indian for the first time. Enthusiastic crowds kept streaming into the mansion for the entire day. Many revelers had a hard time believing that the British had actually gone for good and were coming to Raj Bhavan just to check if the news was true.

While hundreds of people had free access to Raj Bhavan on that momentous day, one heartening memory is that nothing was damaged or stolen from the premise. Perhaps those were a people who knew that with freedom comes responsibility. Those were the times of honest , hardworking people who took the new-found independence very seriously . Things have gone sea change today.

(Source : Times of India of 17 Aug 09)

Boot them out from the city

This type of  bus also allowed to ply in the city. We should be ashamed of such wooden buses in this 21st. century. How this bus passed the fitness test by the Authority?

The citizen of Kolkata welcome the High court order on the issue of scraping 15 years old Buses, Taxis and Autos plying in the city because this order is in the interest of the citizens of  the city in particular and our mother planet in general because the CO2 emission from these vehicles are related to pollution & Global warming. The order of High court is a gift to the people of Kolkata if it is implemented by the enforcing departments of the Government.

What will happen if the high court order is followed in letter and spirit and all polluting vehicles are booted out? It is reported that people will live four years longer. Babies will be born healthier. And Kolkata will no longer be the asthma and lung cancer capital.

Automobile engineers and experts are confident that air toxicity — which is at alarming levels in Kolkata — will dip sharply once the old smoke belchers are gone. “There can be only one outcome — the city’s air will become cleaner. There will be a perceivable drop in carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other toxic elements,” state pollution control board chief scientist Dipak Chakraborty said on Thursday, just two days before the blanket ban on pre-’93 commercial vehicles.

If the government cracks down on 15-year-old vehicles, there will be a remarkable change from day 1 itself, said automobile engineer Prabir Kumar Bose, director of the National Institutes of Technology in Silchar and Agartala. “New vehicles have more fuel-efficient engines. Not only do they use less fuel for combustion, the process is more complete. Hence, there are less pollutants in the emission,” he explained.

In the interest of the people of Kolkata and future generation the  old commercial vehicles must be booted out. They are the silent killers. They should be treated like a killer and they do not deserve any mercy. This time Government should not surrender to any pressure. Government should enforce the order for the pollution free Kolkata, cleaner  Kolkata, healthier Kolkata and beautiful Kolkata. Beautiful Kolkata because these vehicles are the shame for the city. These type of buses are not seen anywhere in India even in the districts. Kolkata is changing in every aspect but why not these buses are booted out yet? In a technologically advanced age these vehicles are shameful to see on the roads of a Metro city. Why so much delay and ultimately High court has to pass an order to boot out these vehicles? This is high time to enforce the order of High court in toto. We the citizen of the city want the Government law enforcement agencies to act this time.

(Acknowledgement : Times of India)

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Accident on Broadway, Saltlake

Being a Sunday afternoon, just chitchatting with my friend in my drawing room, suddenly a heavy breaking sound of a vehicle and then a metallic banging sound broke the silence of the afternoon. Just I came to balcony to make out what exactly has happened. Just I saw three young boys (may be college going) are running through GC block service road towards GC block Community center and people are shouting to catch them. On visiting the accident spot I could find what a fatal accident it is. Two women have been knocked down and they were looking like almost dead. Both are working maid. One was lying on the boulevard and another on the middle of the road of other side. It means she was thrown away from this side of the road to the other side of the road or she was dragged by the vehicle to that side.

From the severity of the accident it seems that the vehicle (Ford icon) was on a tremendous speed and the maids were crossing the road near GD Island. Vehicle was coming from the Stadium side and going to Central Park side. Break was applied, that everybody of the nearby flats heard, in-spite of that the vehicle crossed the low height boulevard hitting two small trees and a Iron Light Post in the boulevard. Vehicle finally stopped when both tyres (driver’s side) punctured on the opposite direction crossing the boulevard as if it was coming from Central Park. When vehicle could not be moved further the boys thought of run away leaving the vehicle. The vehicle too has been severely damaged.

It has been seen many times that young boys of rich families drives their vehicles on this Broadway in maximum speed with loud music on. These irresponsible boys enjoy their lives at the cost of others lives.

No Entry

Politically active city Kolkata has seen many types of road blockades like by sitting on the roads, by organizing meetings and processions by different political parties to protest or to put forward their demands to the authority concerned. Now the city has seen a new kind of road blockade. Yesterday, one of the main roads of the main business centre of Kolkata, i.e. Dalhousie square (BBD Bag) area was blocked by two horses, leaving no place to pass vehicles, as if they too have some demands from the citizen of Kolkata as the city is becoming more and more polluted due to lots of vehicles on the roads.
(Photo : Times of India)

Senseless Bundhs

(Passengers stranded at Airport, a Patient carried on the back due to non availibility of transport on road, and passengers stranded at Howrah station. Pics courtesy :Times of India )

Two days “Bundh” has been called by political parties (in West Bengal) on 5 and 6 Jun 2008, in protest of hike of the petro products prices by the Central Government. This senseless politics of Bundh is not much familiar outside India even out side this state. Bundh (strike) is known as a political, democratic weapon for protest in India. But this weapon has lost its sharpness due to frequent use of this by the political parties. Now public do not support this but they are forced to sit at home as the transport system run by the Government are withdrawn and private ones are forcefully made off the road. People of this state has seen enough of these senseless protests in the past and never has brought any solution to any problem.

The political parties/ leaders are elected by the people for good governance, development of the state and also for meaningful opposition. But Party leaders do not care for these, they think for their political gains only. Ruling party of this state supports the central Government, this means they support the price hike also. At the same time they called a Bundh in protest of the hike. What does it mean? I think it is nothing but double standard. Its India, every thing is fair in politics here. This political “drama” have been staged by political parties in the state just to show that they are with the public, they are concerned for price hike and thats why they are protesting center’s decision. The political leaders irrespective of political color should look at the above pictures and try to understand how the people are pressed into awefull conditions on the Bundh days.

Everything has got a limit. The public are frustrated, disgusted and want to express their protest against this senseless political “drama”. But they are helpless. We feel ashamed to say that we live in a state which is part of a developing country. In a developing country this can not be the work culture. Political people forced the entire workforce to sit at home for two consecutive days. Even this type of irresponsible political activity are not seen in other states in India. Political parties should note that public has no support to their such Bundhs, they want development and to compete with the outside world. This type of senseless activities ultimately tarnishes the image of the state and sends wrong messages to the outside world. In fact this type of political activities dampens the atmosphere of the industrialization and development of the state which has just started after 30 long years. We expect that political parties should now act in a responsible manner for the welfare of their own state and own people.

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(The article is written in the perspective of Indian Politics, particularly in the state of West Bengal)

Train to Bangladesh

“That is my country …. How near is it. Still, I can never reach there.” This was a dialogue in Ritwik Ghatak’s film “Komal Gandhar”, which captured the pain and grief of partition and his dream of reaching there remained just a dream . But on the day of poila Baisakh, Bengali New Year 1415, the Bengalis of both side of the International border got a gift to cherish and to make their dreams of “reaching there” fulfilled.

“Maitree Express” (Friendship Express) a train to Bangladesh from India, (Kolkata to Dhaka) started its journey on the auspicious day of Poila Baisakh that is 14^th april 2008, after 43 years of snapping rail link between India and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). The rail link between India and the then East Pakistan was snapped during Indo-Pak war in 1965.

The two countries, India (particularly West Bengal) and Bangladesh supposed to be very close at hearts to each other because of their common bond of language, culture and food habits. But we are not so due to politics and misunderstandings. An International Boarder separated us from each other. India always respect sovereign state of the neighboring countries and never believe in aggressiveness or Dadagiri to any neighboring country. India always stood by the side of Bangladesh, at the time of distress like a good friend.

“Maitree Express” alone can not bridge the gap or erase the border between two nations built or created through many years unless there is heart to heart communications by way of cultural exchange and tourism. Let there be more “Bharat Bangaldesh friendship society”, and let us extend our hands for friendship with each other. The same was reflected on the first day run of “Maitree Express” when the passengers reaching Kolkata expressed their happiness shouting “we are very happy to be here. We Bangladeshis share a common bond with you people. We especially thank you for standing by us during our war of liberation”.

If East and West Berlin can unite by breaking their “Wall of Berlin”, why can’t we work for union of two Bengals ?

Note : During united India (before Independence) the present Bangladesh was known as “East Bengal”. Then came the partition of INDIA in 1947 on the basis of religion and then “East Bengal” became “East Pakistan” ruled by Pakistan. In 1971, “East Pakistan” was freed from the clutches of Pakistan by India and a new nation was born , thats “Bangladesh”.

Train reached Kolkata from Dhaka. ( Pic : Times of India)

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