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Wary Of Land Blues, KMC Dumps Rs 100-Cr Road Project

By akansha, Section Development
Posted on Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 03:27:21 AM EST

The Left Front Government's hesitation following the LS poll debacle in acquiring land for industrial or infrastructural projects has cost it a major infrastructural project in Kolkata.

The Front-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation feels shaky to reclaim its own land for executing the Rs 100 crore project of constructing a road that would have eased the city's traffic, especially along the Eastern Metropolitan (EM) Bypass.

The town-planning department of the KMC had proposed an arterial road to connect the DC De road near Palmar Bazar to Eastern Metropolitan (EM) Bypass in April 2008.

The connector has been designed to help the traffic run directly from the city's core area like Moulali and Park Circus Connector to the EM Bypass.

"The idea is to reduce the traffic load from the Park Circus connector since the existing connector is saturated and cannot take more traffic. The new road will increase the inner city mobility and accessibility to the EM bypass," said a member, transport sector, KMPC.

According to a senior civic official, however, the project has almost been scrapped by the civic authorities as to go ahead with the project, the KMC needed to reclaim its land in Hatgachia where it faces local resistance.

Source: The Indian Express Wary of land blues, KMC dumps Rs 100-cr road project

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In fact, there is no mention of the project in the budget for the roads department and town planning department, placed in KMC last week.

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya has admitted that land acquisition has become a bottleneck for projects.

"We have tried a lot to convince the locals about the importance of the arterial road for the commuters and the slum-dwellers. But to no avail. At present, we have decided to keep the project in abeyance," said Bhattacharya.

Illegal settlers have encroached on the area from where the arterial road is supposed to pass.

According to a report of the town planning department, the land has at least seven four-storied buildings and nearly 500 squatters. A reality check, however, showed that there are more concrete establishments in the area.

"The KMC is owner of the land. But in this volatile political scenario, we cannot demolish illegal buildings and shanties. The authorities are scared of public fury and we have been asked to shift our focus from the project," said a senior civic official.

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