Salt Lake civic body in bulldoze mode

Suman Chakraborti | TNN

Kolkata: After years of inaction, Bidhannagar Municipality has begun a drive to demolish unauthorised buildings in Salt Lake, a move undertaken by the new Trinamool-run civic board.
    Weeks ago, an illegal garage beside a building near the City Centre mall was demolished after locals complained that it was a nuisance in their locality. The civic authorities found that the structure had been built after bypassing building rules.
    “We are receiving numerous complaints of such buildings mushrooming in the township, flouting prescribed building rules. We are conducting surveys and preparing a list of such buildings and will carry out demolition drives,” said chairperson Anita Mandal. Mandal herself has taken up the responsibility of sanctioning building plans.
    The new board has taken up the issue of illegal buildings quite seriously. Complaints about illegal extensions in commercial highrise complexes are pouring in from areas surrounding Karunamoyee and City Centre mall, which have both residential and commercial plots.
    The civic authorities have also found that drainage and sewer lines of residential houses have been illegally connected to each other at many places. The authorities are sending notices to all households of the township, asking houseowners to disconnect drainage and sewer lines that are connected to those of other houses. The civic authorities will themselves take action if the instruction is not carried out, said sources.
    Biswajiban Majumder, who was chairman of the previous Left Front-run municipality, had earlier come out with allegations that building rules had been flouted while constructing several hundred buildings in the township and that party bigwigs had ensured that the municipality did nothing to stop such illegal acts.
    Though illegal transfer of plots and buildings violating rules is another issue, in most cases the houses that have been built violating rules are those that have been illegally transferred more than once. The civic body had received numerous complaints in the past of building plans being violated after being transferred to a new lessee. In many cases, violations in building rules have been made by constructing additional rooms or structures on top or behind a building.
    In some cases, underground spaces have been constructed. According to civic estimates, more than 100 buildings in the township have been constructed in violation of building rules. In many cases, no action could be taken against the offenders as many of them moved court after receiving notices from the municipality.

A part of a building that was demolished by the civic body

Helpline for Salt Lake senior citizens

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Here’s some good news for elderly citizens living alone in Salt Lake. The Bidhannagar municipality is planning to introduce a 24-hour helpline for them. The system will include round-the-clock medical support and assistance for bill payments. The Bidhannagar police has also introduced a helpline for this vulnerable residents and is currently collecting their names and addresses to feed into their database.
    Salt Lake has a large population of elderly citizens living alone with children studying or working in other cities of the country or abroad. In fact, there are several blocks with very few young residents. The elderly men and women are completely dependant on the daily help for chores like bill payments or emergencies like illness.
    “We plan to come up with a support system for the elderly who live alone in the township. Apart from 24-hour medical help, there are needs like paying electricity and telephone bills, shopping for essential goods of daily needs and buying medicine from the pharmacy. These may appear insignificant chores but for the elderly living alone, it is a big deal. We are looking at whether an agency can be engaged to do these jobs. We will discuss the matter with civic officials,” said a member of the advisory committee that has been formed for the betterment of Salt Lake.
    Bidhannagar municipality chairperson Anita Mandal said a draft plan for services to elderly citizens had been prepared. The plan includes round-the-clock medical service provided by a dedicated medical team that will have an ambulance at its disposal.
    Salt Lake Citizens Welfare Society secretary Bhupendranath Chatterjee welcomed the proposal. “There are many elderly people who have no one to look after them. They can do with such a service. But first, a proper survey is required to identify the number of elderly people live in the township. The agency that is given the contract should have the phone numbers of everyone and contact them regularly to find out what service is required when,” he said.
    Police are also concerned about the elderly as they are vulnerable to crime. North 24-Parganas police have started a helpline for the elderly people of the township. The latter can call the number in an emergency and police will respond to the call at the earliest. The police is now collecting names of everyone above 65 years and alone in the township. The police is also considering a free ambulance service for them.
    “The police has introduced this helpline. If civic authorities join the initiative and provide peripheral services, it will be of immense help to the elderly,” said MK Pathak, secretary of Bidhannagar Senior Citizens Association.