Sunday, June 17, 2012

Road Connection, again

Most letters that we receive from the public usually relate to some problem or grievance. The other day I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from Cognizant's Bantala unit thanking Hidco for making the connection of the East-West Major Arterial Road (passing through the sites of Infosys, Wipro, IIT, St Xaviers' etc) with the PWD Road to Bhojerhat that leads to Bantala. The Vice President of Cognizant explained, when I phoned him after getting his letter, that investors often talked of the necessity of having a second route that could be used in emergencies. This connection had solved this problem. Here is the letter and the map showing the junction:

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Sakalbela has published today an article on the new Fire Station in New Town that is being planned:

16 comments:

  1. Great work continues !!!!! Thank you... :-)

    The EW MAR was very much needed. I had visited the road when I last visited Kolkata in January and it was still not complete. I hope its the same 6 lane stuff that MAR was supposed to be.

    Since this road is going to connect 2 major IT Hubs of New Town and Bantala, this is going to be an important thoroughfare in near future. Perhaps we will be needing a metro route along this but that is just a thought.

    I would request Sir for HIDCO to coordinate with WBSEB, CESC , BSNL and the likes to wrap up the electricity, broadband, water and serage connection infrastructure work along side the construction of this road. In India, as we know, a road is dug up innumerable times by several govt agencies for the lack of coordination.

    Congrats again. Cognizant's recognition should act as a faith for the investors that the Govt is committed to the development of infrastructure in the area.

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  2. So Sir, do you want to share any news about the interest of bidders in the tourism hub at Digha and the auction of 7 plots in New Town ? The last days for expression of interest was, as per your posts, 8th June and 15th June respectively.

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  3. 7 plots in New Town: Good response. Time extended for two plots as there was one bid for these two. Educational Institute fetched highest price (Rs 17 cr per acre for a 2 acre plot)...For Digha, fairly good response received. Offers being scrutinised

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  4. 17 crore / per acre is a fantastic price actually. Sir, do share the media clip if you are planning to give any press release in the next few days with details like where are these plots located ( which Action Area and prices for each of them and the buyers etc).
    This would also help in giving the message to the country that New Town has actually arrived.

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  5. Also , if possible, please share some updates related to Digha-Mandarmani coastal drive as well as the proposed investment by Arcelor Mittal in Digha. The later came in the news recently.

    http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-14/kolkata/32234611_1_arcelormittal-digha-crude-steel-production

    Also, like the way, KMC and irrigation department is planning to renovate Tolly's nallah and Kestopur Canal, is HIDCO planning anything of that sort with Bagjollah canal? Things like dredging it, beautifying it, and introducing water sports. This passes through New Town and doesnt look nice.

    http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-13/kolkata/32214900_1_water-sports-tourism-hooghly

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  7. Bagjollah canal smells bad and donot look pleasant .I am sure Sir,some beautification can be done to it also in Ghuni and nearby areas.

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  8. Google Map distance calculator shows from Cognizant@Bantala to Cognizant@Newtown via Kolkata-Basanti Road -> EM Bypass -> AA-I is around 25 KM. With a connection via Bhojerhat and AA-III it should be around 13 KM. That saves around 12 KM. Similar savings of ~12KM will be there for travel to Airport as well. In fact, once the parallel MAR is completely done (I assume it will connect through Sapoorji's Sukhobrishti/Keppel/DLF_NewTownHeights to Akankha crossing/MAR North Extension), it will make travel from AA-III to Airport having multiple convenient options.
    CTS (and many others) of course has reasons to celebrate!

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  9. Many of my friends resigned from CTS because of this office! It's good that WBHIDCO has come up with an alternate connectivity. But if that area needs to be converted into a full-fledged business district, the PWD road also needs to be upgraded to the MAR standard.

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  10. Yes, I agree, Soumik. I recently travelled through the PWD road and parts of it are in bad shape. I will mention this to PWD Secretary when I talk to him next.

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  11. Sir, other than the Bhojerhat PWD road, are there any MAR planned to connect new town to bantala SEZ in near future? If so, when can that be expected?

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  12. A Master Plan exists: but this would pass through the now-shelved Action Area IV. As of now, Land Aquisition in AA-IV is not in the cards.

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    Replies
    1. Sir, do you remember I had talked about SwapnaBhumi project in now abandoned AA-4 in connection with SINP? I had talked to them for buying a plot of land. They were also talking of a proposed 4 lane road and they actually wanted it to pass through their project. In fact they had kept provision for a 100 feet road in their township plan in case HIDCO wants to build a road through it. I think if land is ready, HIDCO Should not miss an opportunity to build a road through it.

      http://www.swapnabhumirealtors.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Location_Map050311.72100127.pdf

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  13. Sir,

    Nice to go through your blog. Request your guidance whether Ghuni Mouja falls in AA IID as I have seen such mentioning at various places on internet.

    Regards
    Ujjwal Kr. Bose
    Salt Lake

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  14. Sir,
    Its great to hear the news of lottery for allotment of Sukhobrishti. The fact that the results will be published online points to the transparency of the process. I hope that the entire allotment process will be an eye opener for other such schemes done by other bodies, most of which is marred with allegations of nepotism and corruption.

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  15. Hi Sir,

    I am very interested to buy a plot in the "Swapnabhumi Township project" beside Wipro land in Action Area 3.However, i come to know that the land still not under Hidco or municipality! So could you please suggest whether i can still buy plot in this project or not?

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