Land Use Plan of areas near New Town approved by Board of Hidco

The Board of Hidco met on 28th November, last Friday. It approved the report of the planning committee regarding the finalization of LUDCP - Land Use Development and Control Plan of areas around New Town.

The LUDCP is for 78 mouzas,in part or full, spread over 60 sq km. This is more than double the planned size of New Town (30 sq km). Th full area is designed for a population of 27 lakhs.

 The draft LUDCP was published earlier inviting comments and objections. About 400 objections were received. Over a period of time, these objections were all hear by a committee consisting of Chief Planner Hidco, Chief Town Planner UD and Chief Architect NKDA.  Certain modifications were made based on the objections and suggestions received. The final report with recommendations of the Committee were approved by the Board of Hidco. It will now be sent to the State Government for issue of the final notification in the Kolkata Gazette.

One of the recommendations the Planning Committee was that since few developers would have to spare their land for road widening for their projects, the loss of land  may be compensated by allowing additional FAR for the remaining land : the additional FAR however should not exceed 25% of the normally allowable FAR subject to a maximum ceiling of 4.0 . The recommendations will be forwarded to the state government for approval.
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Mr Shankar Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development,
Govt of India visited Eco Pak and Wax Museum yesterday.
L to R:
S.Gupta, CEO KMDA. S Agarwal,me

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Few clippings:

Today's Anandabazar

Khabar 365

Times of India dt 28 Nov 2014

Khabar 365 dt 29 Nov 2014

Khabar 365

Najrul Tirtha Subway

With the Metro works going on and with ever increasing traffic, unplanned pedestrian crossings of the Biswa Bangla Sarani (Major Arterial Road) have been closed in the interest of safety of the pedestrians. However, there is one spot near DLF-I / Najrul Tirtha on one side and Millenium Tower on the other side where a large number of road crossings used to take place. An underground subway is on the verge of completion and Minister Firhad Hakim is expected to inaugurate it on 9th / 10th December 2014. I inspected the subway this morning. A photo:

Najrul Tirtha Subway:
The inner walls will depict pictures on back-lit display panels
as an advertising medium

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Few clippings:

Today's Khabar 365

Times of India dt 25 Nov 2014

Ei Samay dt 25 Nov 2014

Economic Times dt 24 Nov 2014

Khabar 365 dt 24 Nov 2014

Khabar 365 dt 24 Nov 2014

Sports infrastructure projects in New Town

I inspected sports projects of New Town recently. A football ground has been in operation for some time and is much in demand. A small gallery with players' changing rooms are being built. A basketball court and a tennis court with astro turf is nearing completion. A swimming pool with a lily pool for children along with a gym and sports club is under implementation. A cricket ground with a pavilion and LCD score board is nearing completion. A photo:

Tennis Court under progress

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Few clippings:

Ei Samay dt 23 Nov 2014

Salt Lake Telegraph dt 21 Nov 2014

Box drain starts in AA-2

Writing this from Delhi: before catching flight, I along with the whole engineering team of Hidco inspected a number of work sites. Yesterday, I'd done a similar inspection with NKDA engineering wing.
Today, we started a project for making box drain in Action Area 2A. It is close to the newly inaugurated Alia University. The box drain will be completed by 3 months, I was told. A photo:

Coconut breaking in Action Area 2A today: Box Drain for rain water

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Here are a few clippings:

Sanmarg dt 19 Nov 2014

Wi Fi Sanmarg

Ei Samay dt 20 Nov 2014

Labanhrad Sambad dt 19 Nov 2014

KIFF ends

A few hours ago, the last film of 20th KIFF 2014 in Nazrul Tirtha was screened.It was 6 pm that it started after a brief felicitation of the Director and Producer of the film Jhumura. Yesterday, I saw both films, both Iranian. The second film was called Red Rose and we felicitated its director Ms Sepideh Farsi. It was great talking to her over a cup of tea at the Nazrul Tirtha canteen. A picture when Ms Farsi was on the stage just before the 6 pm film yesterday:

With Iranian film director Sepideh Farsi 

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Here is a clipping from today's Hindu:

The Hindu dt 17 Nov 2014

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Here are a few other clippings:

Salt Lake Telegraph dt 14 Nov 2014

Anandabazar dt 12 Nov 2013

ToI dt 17 Nov 2014

Kolkata Film Festival in Najrul Tirtha

Najrul Tirtha is preparing itself for Film Festival 2014 from tomorrow. A photo taken yesterday:

An opening ceremony will be held at 2 pm tomorrow at Open Air Theatre of Najrul
Tirtha

A related clipping from today's Times of India:

As a prelude to the Film Festival, an Art Exhibition was set up yesterday at Najrul Tirtha. A photo of the artists:

Artist Ashok Moulik (person with blue punjabi) has just finished painted two graphiti walls at eco park at our request. I took photos yesterday:

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Here are few clippings:

Today's Ekdin (Top and bottom) Bottombottom)

CCTV in Eco Park

Yesterday I inspected he commencement of CCTV in Eco Park. There are cameras installed at various places of Eco Park. Many of the cameras are versatile and high end. Some are digital cameras and are capable of reading the number plates of vehicles entering the car parking area of Eco Park. Few are PTZ cameras (Pan-tilt-zoom cameras) that can be controlled to follow movement of individuals. I was told that it was possible to generate tables of data like number of people entering a gate or number of cars entering - this would help in monitoring revenue earnings of the Eco Park. The optical fibre backbone can also be used for area specific announcements through speakers and creation of Wi Fi zones. A picture taken at the control unit yesterday:

Control Centre of Eco Park's CCTV network

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Yesterday, the digital photography competition was launched at Eco Park.A photo:

A skating camp also started  at Parking lot no 1 in Eco Park yesterday. I took a photo:

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Few clippings:

Today's Bartaman (9 Nov 2014)

Today's Khabar 365 (dt 9 Nov 2014)

Salt Lake Teelegraph dt 7 Nov 2014

Dainik Statesman dt 9 Nov 2014

Photo, Skating, Painting, Wax, Film Festival, Alia, VivekTirtha, Closing Film Festival

A lot of things are scheduled to happen in the next few days at New Town. Here is a synopsis:

Saturday 8th November:
2 pm:   Inauguration of photography contest at Eco Park (by PRSI)
3 pm:   Opening of roller skating activities at EcoPark (by Ad Impact)

Sunday 9th November:
4pm:    Inauguration of Painting-n-Sculpture Exhibition at Najrul Tirtha (9-27 Nov 2014) (by Art Mart)

Monday 10th November:
5 pm: Inauguration of Wax Museum (from Netaji Indoor Stadium) by Hon'ble CM

Tuesday 11th November:
2pm: Ceremony at Najrul Tirtha to mark commencement of Kolkata Film Festival at Najrul Tirtha (Schedule KIFF Najrul Tirtha
4pm: Inauguration of Alia University Campus by Hon'ble CM
5pm: Foundation stone laying of Vivek Tirtha by Hon'ble CM

Monday 17th November:
3.30pm: Closing Ceremony of Kolkata Film Festival at NajulTirtha

Few photos:

Schedule of  KIFF at Najrul Tirtha

Tea Lounge Starts

Yesterday, work of Tea Lounge in Eco Park's Tea Garden started. The design has been made by Dulal Mukherjee and Associates. I was deeply involved in evolving the design. Andrew Yule is helping us with advice on raising the Tea Garden. Hidco is raising the garden. A picture taken yesterday:

Ground Breaking of Tea Lounge : 6 Nov 2014

Here is a link to a video telecast on ETV Bangla channel recently:
Tea Garden and Tea Lounge

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I visited the new campus of TCS at New Town Rajarhat. Though not fully commissioned, it is already put to use and it was great seeing young professionals working earnestly in beautiful building. A photo taken a while ago:

At TCS Rajarhat Campus: With me is Sridhar Bakshi and others

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Here are a few clippings:

Khabar 365 dt 7 Nov 2014

Khabar 365 dt 6 Nov 2014

Anandabazar dt 6 Nov 2014

Solar Shop in New Town

New Town is a Solar City. Last Sunday, Minister Firhad Hakim released a small booklet on use of Solar Energy. On my suggestion, CEO and AO NKDA had got it illustrated  by cartoonist Chandi Lahiri. It has many nuggets of useful information; a sample:

- Cost of solar energy module often pays for itself in 5-6 years. The Solar Panel is often guaranteed for 25 years by the manufacturer.
- One needs 120 sq ft of space for 1 kilo watt energy generation
- A rooftop solar hot water costs Rs 25,000 or so.

 It also lists out initiatives - private and public - already taken in New Town. Some examples:

- 500 KW canal-top solar energy project by NKDA (ongoing; located near Banglar Haat / Eco Park)
- 140 KW rooftop system in Coal India Bhavan (close to Najrul Tirtha)
-  2% of demand by solar power: Tata Housing, Sankar Netrlaya, Surakshya, Sampurna Husing Co-operative, Santiniketan Housing Co-operative, etc.

Here is an illustration contained in the book:

Cartoon by Chandi Lahiri on booklet on Solar City 

Incidentally, we from NKDA have also decided to install solar rooftop power plants at CG Community Market (peak power 27 KW), IA Community Market (19 KW), Hidco Bhavan (13 KW), Finance Centre (21 KW) and NKDA Office (10 KW). Uttam Jana, Superintending Engineer tellsme that he expects to start work in these projects this month.

In IA market, one stall (bearing number S25) has been earmarked for selling solar energy products.
Allotment would be made through lottery among agencies recognized by MNRE.
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Here are a few clippings:

The Statesman dt 4 Nov 2014

Ekdin dt 4 Nov 2014

HT dt 3 Nov 2014

Times of India dt 3 Nov 2014

See http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Record-815m-sq-ft-of-flats-unsold-in-6-cities/articleshow/45052062.cms?intenttarget=no

Telegraph Metro dt 3 Nov 2014

Ei Samay dt 3 Nov 2014

Khabar 365 dt 3 Nov 2014

Pratidin dt 3 Nov 2014