04 October 2008

A NOVEL THEME WITH NEW IDEAS

“ARJUNA PIERCING THE BULL’S EYE”


The conflict between the deity and the demon and the struggle between the good and the evil are in principle indistinguishable. Kurukshetra rests deep inside our heart where the coexistence of the good and the evil has always kept the character of the battlefield alive. The great warrior Arjuna had come down on the Kurukshetra with the objective of upholding the spirit of virtue over vice. The grandeur of Ma Durga and the pomp of Arjuna are two sides of the same coin. Both seem to aim at the annihilation of the evil and sustenance of the good.

A part of this pandal in the form of the sharp edge of an arrow signifies the triumph of the good over the evil. Tin, the metal used on the top of the pandal, metaphorically represents the weapons used in the battle of the Kurukshetra. In the world fraught with inequality and disharmony, let the worship of Goddess Durga usher in a world of equality and unity. Let all conflicts, troubling our heart constantly, disappears for ever. Let Arjuna’s single-minded pursuit and ultimate triumph in piercing the eye of the revolving fish give us strength and impetus to make our India great and triumphant.


Let us all, at an individual level, be Arjuna ourselves; declare war against the dark cloud of evil crowding our heart; let all disharmonies vanish; let happiness, joy and peace overwhelm the great earth. At this auspicious hour, we pray for you all – be happy and enjoy yourselves.

Jayabrata Kar

Joint Coordinator
DL Block, Salt Lake

14 June 2008

IT union plans crèche in Sector V


Sobia Khan | TNN


Kolkata: An IT union, often criticised for just being there, intends to set up a crèche in Sector V, the first such in the city’s tech hub, for the benefit of young mothers employed in the various infotech companies operating in the electronics complex.
West Bengal Information Technology Services Association (WBITSA) — whose establishment in November 2006 ruffled quite a few local IT honchos — has already held preliminary talks with Webel and Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NITA) about being allotted space to set up such a facility.
“We heard that quite a few people were leaving their jobs in the absence of such facilities, and being a responsible body, we felt that if no one else was doing it, we should come forward and set up a crèche ourselves since our goal is to promote the cause of IT in Bengal,”
WBITSA general secretary Somnath Bhattacharya said.
However, Bhattacharya declined to comment on why local IT companies, which project themselves as progressive employers and have a large number of women employees, had not set up a crèche till date in Sector V. “We are willing to work with companies for ensur
ing that the crèche benefits as many IT sector employees as possible,” he said, adding that modalities on size and timing are still being worked out.
NITA chairman S A Ahmed said his organisation supported the crèche initiative. “We will provide all possible help to make it a success,” Ahmed said.
Incidentally, Bangalore and Hyderabad have quite a few crèches dedicated to the children of IT employees. Over 200-odd IT/ITES companies function in Sector V, which includes the likes of India’s No. 1 software exporter TCS, No. 3 exporter Wipro, as well as global biggies like IBM and Cognizant.
Both TCS and Wipro, though, are examining the benefits of having independent crèches for the benefit of their staff. Even the merits of a shared facility are being explored. “We may come up with one or share a common facility,” TCS human resources head Ajoyendra Mukherjee said.


23 April 2008

Salt Lake planner revisits town


Prithvijit Mitra & Suman Chakraborti | TNN Kolkata:

Dobrivoje Toskovic’s tryst with Salt Lake began 40 years ago when it was just a blueprint. The Yugloslavian architect was flown down to draw up the masterplan for Kolkata’s first satellite township. He gave shape to a township that has grown manifold over the years and inspired several more in and around the city.
More than four decades later, 81-yearold Toskovic revisited Salt Lake on Tuesday to check out if it had grown according to plan. And, he came back impressed. “It has grown into a lovely garden city, just as I had planned. There are community housing, parks, clean roads and the traffic management seemed fine. I did feel a bit nostalgic today. But more than anything else, I felt proud that the city had developed just the way I had wanted it to,” Toskovic said. He visited Central Park, several blocks in the township and was elated to see the greenery all around. “The roads are nicely lined with trees, which is a wonderful sight.” Toskovic arrived in Kolkata a few days ago to attend a prize distribution ceremony and decided to visit the township on Tuesday. “He was happy after visiting the township, saying that much of his plan had materialised,” said Bidhannagar municipality chairman Biswajiban Majumder. The Belgrade-based architect had emphasised greenery, which he had wanted in 50% of the township. “He visited Central Park and was happy that his wish for greenery in the township had been implemented,” said a civic official. Toskovic said he had planned to use the central patch of greenery (Central Park) to hold cultural programmes and to set up a treasure hall. He was happy to learn that various cultural programmes and fairs were being held there. He was also pleased that most of the blocks had community halls of their own, as planned. However, he lamented the absence of landmarks. In his masterplan, he had earmarked all the corner plots for institutions that could serve as landmarks. Besides, the islands in the middle of the roads were much bigger in his plan. And, he had kept highrises completely out of it.

10 April 2008

Water crisis haunts Salt Lake

When it comes to water supply, Kolkata is way ahead of other metros. But the posh satellite township of Salt Lake on the eastern fringes of the city is an exception.

Salt Lake residents have a tough time every summer when taps run dry. Come 2009 and their suffering is only going to get worse. A survey by French consultant Seureca has predicted that water supply to the township will fall far short of the increasing demand. The state urban development department had engaged Seureca to conduct a water management survey at Salt Lake and its adjacent areas. The survey was aimed at exploring the feasibility of outsourcing water supply, sewerage, drainage and solid waste management of the township through public-private partnership.

The experts have pointed out that the projected demand for piped water in Salt Lake area - excluding Sector V - would far exceed the supply capacity by end-2008, The daily demand of water that stands at 9 million gallon a day will touch 20 million gallon by then. At present, the municipality receives around 6 million gallon from Tala and the civic body pumps in around 3 million gallon every day.

Salt Lake residents can easily understand the gravity of the situation as they already have to bear with shortage during the summer. Civic officials conceded that the township does not have a water treatment plant. It has to depend on the daily supply of filtered surface water from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. According to an agreement, the municipality can get a maximum of 10 million gallon of filtered water per day, but receives much less now.

There exists an underground reservoir with a capacity of five million gallon per day for emergency. But the report predicts that it will be of little help in tackling the crisis. Seureca has proposed that a new underground reservoir be built. The report warns that unless this is done, water supply may have to be slashed to six hours a day in the future to narrow down the demand-supply gap. But the Bidhannagar Municipality is working on several plans to improve the water supply system. The municipality's chairman-in-council, Tapan Talukdar, who looks after the township's water supply system, said they have started working on increasing the capacity of the water tanks.

"We have started working on increasing the capacity of water tanks 1, 3 and 13. Gradually, capacity of all the water tanks will be increased. We have also submitted a proposal to KMC to increase the supply of water from Tala," he said.

At present, the 17 water tanks at Salt lake have a capacity of 20,000 gallon each. The capacity would be increased to 25,000 gallon, Talukdar said. Besides, the civic body is trying to introduce water service charges to earn revenue with which it can pay for additional water supply from Tala.

The civic authorities are also trying to extend the duration of supplying filtered water from seven to 12 hours a day. The state urban and municipal affairs department also plans to introduce 24-hour surface water supply to all municipality areas under KMA with the help of JNNURM funds.

Source: TOI

31 March 2008

Sec V won’t be flooded this year


Techies may no longer have to wade through knee-deep water in the coming monsoon. “Sector V will not be inundated this time,” Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NITA) chairman S A Ahmed told TOI. “Work on the damaged roads and sewerlines will be completed by July,” he added. NITA is the authority responsible for Sector V.
Drain water from Sector V drains into Bagjola canal. With drain water from New Town also being channelised through the canal, it invariably overflows during the monsoon as it is ill
equipped to flush out water from both sides.
Companies at Sector V, also called Nabadiganta Township
now, said they would wait to see what happens when it actually starts pouring in June-July. “As we are the worst sufferers whenever it rains, we are keeping our fingers crossed on this. However, the NITA initiative is a welcome development,” Wipro senior manager (administration and facilities) Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya said.
Incidentally, state urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya has also said in the recent past that improving drainage and sewerage systems of Sector
V would be accorded top priority. Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority has been asked to prepare a master plan in this regard.
“Beautification of Sector V will be completed in 18 months,” Ahmed said. NITA has signed agreements with Encon and Selvel for improving the IT hub.
Ahmed said easing traffic in Sector V would also be given importance. “Work on building a flyover in front of Wipro and J K Saha junction is in progress. Also, two bridges are expected to come up near Kestopur canal by mid-2009,” he added.

Sobia Khan | TNN

14 March 2008

In good books?

Is Book Fair 2008 a hit or a miss? Arshad Ali finds out the answer to the big question While booksellers and stall owners of the 550-odd stalls at the 33rd Book Fair, now christened Boi Mela, complain of poor business and slumping sales, organisers are happy that the fair has finally taken place. The last minute cancellation of the Kolkata Book Fair at the Park Circus Maidan and a change in its venue has proved to be a bane for some and boon for others. Most booksellers complain of unprecedented losses this year. “On an average, we sell books worth Rs 4 lakh every year but going by the trend this year, I doubt if it will touch the 1 lakh mark,” said Ajay Kumar Shaw of Kwality Book Stall. He said more lovers than book lovers were visiting the fair. “Most people come in pairs, eat and hang around rather than buy books,” he said. According to some, the real season of holding the fair has been spent in political bickering. “We are bearing the brunt at the end of the day, losing at least 70 per cent of normal business. The mela season is over and now it is time for board exams. ICSE and CBSE are in progress whereas higher secondary is knocking at the door,” pointed out Samit Banerjee of Education Forum, a publisher and bookseller adding that many parents have opted out for the same reason. People, like the owner of Madina Publications, attribute the loss to the delay in completion of stalls. “The lights have been put up this morning and there are still no provision for fans. This place has become a furnace and visitors have chosen to stay away,” he told this EKP correspondent on Tuesday (March 3), pointing at the bundled books that were still to be put up on display. Some stall owners, however, look at this fair more like an annual ritual that should be organised irrespective of earnings from it. “We have suffered losses but are happy that all the senior members of the fraternity have met in this huge get together,” said Debashish Bhattacharya, a member of a little magazine that has put up its stall in the Little Magazine Corner. Organisers admit there had been impediments. “The success of the fair lies in the fact that it happened and the secretary of the guild is solely responsible for the inconveniences caused. The fair almost got called off and if that happened it would have been like Durga Puja not happening in Kolkata,” said Anil Acharya, secretary of one of the sub committees of the Boi Mela. He admitted there had been a delay and businessmen have incurred a loss. “Another huge fair was being held on these grounds and everything had to be dismantled before we could put up the fair and it is true that we couldn’t do justice to all, but I request booksellers to be a bit patient and hope that business will pick up in the remaining days of the fair,” he said. Others however believe it is only a matter of time before people get acclimatised to this new format and venue. “We have had reasonable footfall in spite of the board exams being on. If the book fair continues here and is held at the right time, people would happily accept it,” claimed Soumitra Lahiri, PRO.

Source: Times of India

11 February 2008

Goons raid Salt Lake flat, loot jewellery

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Yet another case of robbery in Salt Lake, four armed youths broke into a house in Baisakhi Abasan on Sunday night, tied up a woman and looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh.

The four armed goons raided the house of Pranab Dey, a promoter, around 9.30 pm when he was out for work. The robbers asked his wife Debi to open the door, saying they had come to meet her husband to discuss something important. But Debi was reluctant to open the door as she did not know them. When the four failed to convince her, one of them sprayed chilly powder into her eyes. As she was temporarily blinded, the four barged into the house.

The gang then tied up Debi with a rope and gagged her. They also beat up her physically challenged son. The domestic help engaged by the Deys was also not present in the house when the incident occurred. She had just left for the local market to shop for Saraswati Puja. The robbers then opened the almirah, looted the cash and jewellery and left.

Neighbours complained that this was not the first time such an incident had occurred in the housing complex. They said robberies are frequent in
the locality and numerous attempts to draw the police’s attention have gone in vain.

The area falls under the Bidhannagar east police station. Police suspect the gang had been tracking Dey’s movement and came to his house when he was not around.

“Our officers have reached the place and we are trying to nab the criminals as soon as possible,” said a police officer.

This is the third incident of robbery in Salt Lake in the past four weeks. In January, burglars broke into the house of a 72-year-old widow and robbed her. Last week, a gang of robbers broke open the door of a flat in BB Block and looted jewellery worth nearly Rs 15 lakh.

24 January 2008

Goons raid Salt Lake house, rob 72-yr-old

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: A gang of robbers sneaked into a Salt Lake home in the wee hours of Wednesday, tied up a 72-year-old widow and her maid, and looted cash before fleeing. Police were yet to arrest anyone. Raids are on to nab the gang.
Aparna Basu, who stays with her domestic help at her AH Block residence, said a gang of four cut through the window grille on the ground floor around 2 am on Wednesday. However, finding nothing on the ground floor, the four barged into Aparna’s bedroom, where she and her maid Sabita were sleeping.
“When I woke up with a jolt, the goons, their faces covered with shawls, asked me to keep quiet and threatened me by brandishing a revolver. They then tied me and my maid and asked me where I have kept my jewellery. When I said I did not have any jewellery at home, they ransacked the room and took away about Rs 1,700 that I had,” Aparna said. The gang was inside the house for around two hours, she said.
They locked up Aparna and Sabita before leaving the house. The neighbours got to know about the robbery only after Sabita screamed for help. They rushed to the house and opened the door with the help of police and rescued the duo.
Police are looking into all possible angles. “We have started an inquiry into the case,” said a senior Bidhannagar police officer. Police were also trying to ascertain
whether Sabita, the domestic maid hired three months ago, had a hand in the robbery.
Aparna, a retired government employee, had been living in the house since 1992. Her husband Sivaprasad Basu, a former PWD employee, had passed away long ago. Both her daughters are married. The elder daughter now lives in the US and the younger daughter stays in Mumbai. “I have been living here for many years but have never had such an experience. I am now feeling very insecure and wondering whether

I will continue to live here or shift to my relatives’ house elsewhere,” she said.
Aparna’s relatives rushed to her house as soon as they got the news in the morning. “It seems that the gang was keeping an eye on the house for some time and attacked only after being sure that my aunt stays alone,” said Aparna’s nephew PN Dutta.
Incidentally, Aparna claimed to be a cousin of former chief minister Jyoti Basu. But Basu’s personal aide Joykrishna Ghosh said the former chief minister’s relatives denied this claim.



16 January 2008

No Parking

Even as another shopping mall and multiplex readies to open its door in Salt Lake’s CK block, residents fear that this will make living in the area difficult If mall hopping is a habit that you have mastered, then in a few months time you will have one more venue to hangout in. What with a 300-seater multiplex, along with a 90,000 sq feet of shopping area all set to open its doors in CK block. But this, as the saying goes, is just one side of the coin. The shopping complex which is expected to draw an average footfall of 2,000 people daily has just 30 car parks. The mall that opens into the 2nd avenue in CK block has very little road clearance. This would mean endless traffic snarls in the area and residents have already hit the panic button, even as authorities indulge in an endless blame-game.
“How can the municipality allow an eight-storied commercial building to come up within such a thickly populated residential area?” asked Pinakiranjan Mukherjee, a resident of the area. Indeed, once the shopping mall becomes functional, the large volume of vehicular traffic will make it difficult for residents of the area to drive in and out of their own block. “The plot that has been earmarked for this commercial activity and we had lot of difficulty in accommodating all these facilities,” reasoned Anjan Dutta, the architect of the building.
The ground floor and the first floor of the mall will house a retail chain, while the second floor is expected to address the fashion needs of the city with many international brands setting shop, along with a multi-cuisine food court at the third level. The complex will also house an exclusive club and an array of other facilities. The expected footfall on weekends in expected to touch 4,000 people with at least 300 cars rolling in. And in the absence of proper parking space, a large chunk of the battery of cars will spill over and block arterial road that leads to the block, say residents. And it is not just the probable traffic congestion that is bothering them. “Not only will our block get congested, but the security will also become a major concern as places like these attract a host of people from outside the township,” says Arun Chackraborty, a resident of CK block.
“I am not aware of the parking problem but I will surely find out,” was all that chairman of the Bidhanangar Municipality, Biswajiban Mazumdar was ready to say when asked. However, municipal officials blame the Urban Development (UD) department for this problem.
“The plot has been earmarked by UD as a commercial plot, we were bound to sanction it, and when we sanction the building plan it never states what amount of crowd it will draw. So, we didn’t know it would have a footfall of 4,000 people,” said an official.
PK Pradhan, principal secretary, UD, refutes these allegations. “Irrespective of land pattern, it is the sole right and responsibility of the municipality to decide as to what type of commercial complex it will sanction in accordance to the building laws,”added Pradhan. “Car parking space is allotted not on the basic of footfalls but on the basic of built-up-area and we have sanctioned accordingly,” added another official. Saswati Mondal, councillor, ward No. 13, promises to look into this matter. “It was sanctioned much before I was elected but I will definitely put forward this complain to the chairman,” she assured. As the blame game continues, residents feel that their complaints will fall on deaf ears as all parties involved stand to gain from the entire project.
“While the builder will use maximum space for commercial activity forcing people to use road space as parking lots from which the municipality will collect parking fees,” pointed out a resident.

Source: Times of India

09 January 2008

Salt Lake civic body in tax row

Piling up garbage, lack of maintenance of roads and street lights - it's the same old story in Salt Lake. The imbroglio over realisation of property tax from residents has put the municipality in a soup. The municipality has no funds to run the daily amenities.

Nearly eight months after the Supreme Court scrapped the property tax structure and asked Bidhannagar Municipality to stop tax collection, the matter is still pending before the court.

The municipality had planned to upgrade civic amenities with the fund. However, the plan hit a roadblock after the apex court's verdict. According to the civic body's estimates, it could have earned Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore this year from property taxes only. The municipality is already running losses of about Rs 7 crore since tax collection stopped. "Had we been able to collect taxes in the last seven months, we could have earned nearly Rs 6 crore to 7 crore more," said municipality's finance officer Somnath Mukherjee. According to records, the civic body had earned nearly Rs 10 crore from tax and other revenue collections in 2005 and nearly the same amount in 2006.

However, Mukherjee said their plea to get Rs 5 crore fund to make up the loss of not being able to collect taxes has gone to the finance department. "The money is likely to be sanctioned soon," he said.

The municipality spends about Rs 75 lakh per month for maintaining basic civic services, which means it has already spent Rs 5.25 crore from June last year. Besides, it has to pay Rs 1 crore to KMC every year for getting water from Tallah. The civic body spends around Rs 20 lakh on salaries, Rs 30 lakh on streetlight bills, Rs 10 lakh for maintaining the water reservoirs and pumping stations and about Rs 10 lakh for solid waste disposal.

The civic body had also lined up several projects to develop civic amenities, using the tax money. It had allocated Rs 7 crore for road repair that was supposed to be completed by 2007. For water supply, it had allocated Rs 5 crore. The civic body had also allocated Rs 5 crore for parks, Rs 3 crore for markets and Rs 3 crore for drainage and streetlights. All these projects are slated to be completed by 2009.

Source: Times Of India

08 January 2008

Poor signal


Installed traffic lights remain idle in Sector V even after fatal accidents on the Sector V-Newtown stretch

The
high-speed corridor connecting Sector V and Newtown with E M Bypass is a drivers’ nightmare with 15 accidents in the past six months. The North 24 Parganas police reacted by installing traffic lights at the government’s expense at the Bowlers’ Den crossing and at College Moore. But the lights remain unused. “We aren’t able to use the lights because the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) has not been able to provide us with a connection,” said Ashok Biswas, additional SP Salt Lake.
Anindo Banerjee of Enkon, the organisation that installed the traffic signals, disagreed. He said that the posts at Bowlers’ Den do not have an electricity connection but the lights at Sector V’s College More had a connection. “It’s one of the busiest traffic junctions, but the lights remain unused as the police are not ready to take charge,” he added.
Authorities are passing the buck on why it is taking so long for the traffic lights to work. Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NITA), the civic body in charge of maintenance, has been trying to upgrade infrastructural facilities for some time but said that bureaucratic apathy made their job difficult. Enkon is also in charge of beautification of Sector V. They are supposed to upgrade the user facilities by installing new bus stands, landscaping of the boulevard. Unfortunately, none of these developments are visible. Banerjee blamed other governmental agencies for destroying their work. “We did install railings at certain pathways but it was uprooted by WBSEDCL workers for laying cables,” he said.
The image of the township has taken a beating due to overhead wires. “It is an eyesore and makes the city look so untidy,” said Moushumi Das an engineering student.
“We have been trying to pursue the local cable companies to cooperate with us as it is our duty to dismantle all overhead wires but they did not respond,” complained Banerjee.
He also blames water logging as another primary factor for destruction of greenery. “Everything was destroyed by water-logging,” said Pinaki Halder, executive officer, NITA, “We are conducting regular review meeting and the work is in the initial stage hopefully it will take concrete shape after few months”.

Archisman Dinda, New Town

07 January 2008

Look East

Salt Lake and Sector V are turning out to be the new commercial hubs even as more people are turning away from the traditional hangouts to the eastern fringes It was not many years ago that the perfect long drive out of the city was towards the airport. But, today, to reach the eastern fringes of the city, one has to negotiate fearful traffic at various junctions of the EM Bypass because of the increased flow of cars to and from that area.
In fact, while the chunk of the IT workforce of a few thousand people travel to sector V everyday, a large number of people are now going their to shop, catch films and eat out. Rahul Dasgupta, a resident of Bansdroni in fact voices his preference for City Center and Inox in Salt Lake vis-à-vis its counterpart in Forum. “It’s far more spacious and chilled out and a true hangout place,” he explains. Needless to say then that businesses are growing and those involved in it are positive of future growth trends. “Since our inception in 2004, we have seen a 40 per cent compounded annual growth in terms of footfall with our current average footfall (per day) being about 4000-5000 patrons on weekends and 2500+ patrons on weekdays.
Earlier our patron profile was mainly predominated by residents of Salt Lake and the surrounding catchment areas but now patrons are coming in from as far as Behala, Alipur, Diamond Harbour, Barasat, Thakurpukur and even Barrackpore,” says Subhasis Ganguli, regional general manager, Inox, City Centre.
The area is also flourishing in terms of food joints - both restaurants and coffee outlets have opened up aplenty across the area. Anand Puri whose family owns Trinca’s on Park Street and BB’s in Sector V, has a positive outlook on business in this area. “There is a lot of prospect here. As soon as the Rajarhat township is built, we expect business to flourish,” said Puri. In fact people like Debanjan Niyogi, who resides in Tollygunge feel that it would great if Salt Lake and Rajarhat is connected via the metro soon, because conveyance still is an issue if one does not have private transport. Indeed, if these loose ends can be tied, East Kolkata will emerge as the favoured commercial destination of the city.

Source: East Kolkata Plus (Times of India)