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| At Udaipur Beach, New Digha, yesterday afternoon |
I went to Digha yesterday to hold a special meeting to take measures to make Digha more attractive to tourists in terms of improved services. Mr Raj Kanojia, IPS, DG(Coastal Security), Ms Antara Acharya IAS DM Purba Midnapore, SP, Executive Officer DSDA, SDO/SDPO/ BDO/OC and Subrat Biswas IFS, Project Director ICZM and others were present. We decided on the following:
1. For every 500m x 500m, a volnteer would be identified by DSDA to clean the beach and adjoining areas in two shifts. Volunteers would also see that nobody litters, use the vats and that no encroachments take place.
2. A joint visit by police and civil officers would locate parking lots along main foreshore road. The area near Shvalik Road would be made a NO Parking / No Halting Zone where one can't stop even to get down ( I have seen this in Connaught Place in Delhi).
3. LED street lights would be installed from Digha Gate to Ramnagar. The Digha Gate is slowly inching towards completion.
4. Udaipur beach in New Digha would be kept hawker free.
5. November 16 , 2014 will be observed by District Administration as Green and Clean Digha Day.
6. World Bank aided ICZM project has a hawker rehabilitation component. This will be expeited.
Here is a glimpse of the revamped embankment near Saikatabas:
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| Marble-top sitting area. Watch tower in far background built under ICZM project. (Photo by my Sony h55 ) |
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Here is a clipping:
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| Khabar 365 dt 16 Oct 2014 |
Respected Sir,
ReplyDeleteWe all know how much hard work you given to make New town as smart city. Even ever we enter Newtown we find Clean and green Roads, ultra-modern building, flyover, park, proper traffic rules and excellent maintenance. Newtown is the cleanest part of Kolkata. We are proud of Newtown and we are proud for you too. And we salute Mamata Banerjee for taking proper steps to clean your city, Kolkata.
But Sir with due respect I would like to say that govt is neglecting the most important part of city, ignoring the most crucial part of our town. THE GATEWAYS OF KOLKATA.
Kolkata has total 7 gateways . Airport, Jessor Road, Howrah Station, Sealdha Station, Kolkata Station, Shalimar Station, Santragachi station and Kona Expressway. Apart from Santragachi station and Kona Expressway all other GATEWAYS ARE COMPLETELY MESSED UP.
Last year Kolkata got the brand new airport terminal. The terminal is a pride for kolkatans. The Airport area is maintained perfectly. But the moment we step out from Airport zone and enter VIP ROAD we find dirt , dirt and dirt, complete nuisance . VIP road became one of the ugliest and dirtiest part of our city. No maintenance nothing. It’s a complete mess.
People are peeing both side of Road. Garbage dumped both side of road even sometime on road also. Broken Trident light and non-illuminating street lights. Unmaintained boulevard, illegal parking of Bus, Auto, Taxi, Rickshaw. Eye shore hoarding No traffic rules, no lane maintaining, no footpath. No green area no trees. No beautification work happened as of now. It’s a shame for us having Airport Approach road like this.
Forget about cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune. Even tier II tier III cites like Bhopal, Coimbatore, Vizag, Bhubaneswar has better Airport approach road and better gateways.
I ask you why? Why this negligence? When govt is improving city’s maximum roads, beautification work is going on throughout the city then we all gateways are neglecting so much??
The same situation with other gateways also. Howrah station which consider as a heritage zone is wrapped up with Garbage , hawkers and urine. The entire area is covered with Hawkers now. People are literally Peeing on the middle of road and boulevard . Even hawkers are doing business over Howrah Bridge also. Howrah bridge which is the most famous tourist spot in Kolkata, which the most visited place in Kolkata and which is the busiest cantilever bridge in the world , is controlling by Hawkers , touts and goons. Police is there in the bridge but they are busy to take bribes from lorry and bus.
We all know that you are not that typical Government officers who say it’s not in our department so we cant help you. In our opinion you the best working Govt office in your city. That’s why I’m trying bring our the major issue in your notice.
I’m doing this not for me, not for you, for us. For your love KOLKATA. So please sir it’s a humble from us to improve the situation of all Gateways in Kolkata. Lets make Kolkata a true clean city a true Tillotama.
Soumalya, you are spot on and summed up this crucial issue very nicely.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who stay outside the city of Kolkata but are forced to enter the city for various reasons including visit to Govt. offices, hospitals etc. nowadays find the "city of joy" to be a nightmare even just to enter the city either by road or by rail or even by air.
The only hope that we have is that there are people like Mr. Sen in the administration who can make a difference in this regard.
Nice one. Thanks for sharing. Digha in West Bengal is a popular beach town. An ideal destination for a refreshing break from the city, it offers a complete holiday experience. Marine Aquarium and Research Centre in the city is one of the most well equipped marine aquariums in India. Check out all best places to visit in Digha also.
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