Filtered water for Salt Lake

Salt Lake, Sector V, Dum Dum and New Town may get 120 million gallons of filtered water daily under a project planned by the state government. The previous government had designed a project only for New Town. The public health engineering department will execute the project along with the urban development department. A feasibility report will be prepared in the next seven days, public health engineering minister Subrata Mukherjee said on Monday.

Tannery shift: Tanneries operating in Tiljala, Topsia and Tangra have been asked to shift to the Calcutta Leather Complex in Bantala by December 31. “Owners of tanneries who are yet to shift to the leather complex can use this extension and get their units registered,” said industries minister Partha Chatterjee on Monday.

ATM fraud: Promod Singh and Nishikant Kumar, in their early-30s, were arrested from Dumri village in Gaya for an ATM fraud in the city. They are members of a national gang that had carried out ATM frauds at Jorasanko, Tollygunge, Regent Park and other places over the past year, said an officer of the detective department, which arrested the two. According to him, the frauds, who had been “trained” in Gaya, targeted ATMs where cards have to be swiped.

AMRI case: AMRI vice-president (administration) Preeta Banerjee and night administrator Sajid Hossain were handed over copies of the case charge sheet when they were produced in the Alipore chief judicial magistrate’s court on Monday. Acting CJM S.M. Shahnawaz Hossain rejected their bail plea and remanded them in jail custody till March 19.

Special trains: South Eastern Railway will run 40 pairs of special trains to Kochuveli (Kerala), Chennai, Mumbai and Durg from Santragachhi and Shalimar between April 3 and June 29. Eastern Railway will run a weekly summer special train between Calcutta and Kamakhya stations for 13 weeks. The services will start from April 2. The train will start from Kamakhya on Mondays and leave Calcutta on Tuesdays.

Heroin arrest: Sk. Panchu, 50, and his wife Rahim Biti, 40, were caught with 100 grams of heroin from Karl Marx Sarani on Monday. The couple, residents of CGR Road in Lalkuthi, were taken to Shakespeare Sarani police station.

Protest: About 60 auto drivers blocked the Ajoynagar crossing on the EM Bypass from 11.50am to 12.15pm to protest alleged cop atrocities.

Boy injured: Atanu Nandi, a Class VII student of Park Institution, sustained head injuries after a motorcycle hit him while he was standing on a road divider in front of RG Kar hospital on Monday morning.

Clarification: National Highway 6 has been referred to as Delhi Road instead of Bombay Road in the report “Man who brought home a Ghost” published on March 5. The error is regretted.

Police to help fliers find taxi

The new Bidhannagar commissionerate has deployed 30 green police volunteers at the airport taxi stand and the prepaid counters to make it easier for fliers to find a ride to the city.

The commissionerate plans to increase deployment and set up two new prepaid taxi counters on the premises.

There are three prepaid counters at the airport: two run by Wenz cars outside the domestic terminal and one by Bengal Taxi Association inside. The counters outside are often shut by 10pm, while the queue never seems to end at the other one.

Taxi unions now control the booths and, in the absence of monitoring, harass passengers at will. Metro has been campaigning for better facilities at the airport and highlighting the taxi torment faced by fliers.

“Revamp of the prepaid taxi system topped our agenda when we took charge of the policing of Salt Lake and the airport last month. We have started making some changes and more passenger-friendly changes are in the pipeline,” said Rajeev Kumar, the commissioner of Bidhannagar police.

“We received a lot of complaints from passengers who, after paying at a prepaid counter, could not find the taxi that was supposed to take them to their destination. Hence, each passenger is now being given a serial number according to his position in the queue instead of a taxi registration number. A green police volunteer is noting down the number and hailing a taxi for him. The passengers would not have to take the trouble of finding their own taxis any more,” said Kumar.

The commissioner also said he would ensure that touts could not hang around the airport and minimise taxi refusal and overcharging.“Our officers will make sure that the prepaid counters do not close before 11pm,” he added.

Police to curb taxi menace at airport

KOLKATA: A respite from the taxi trouble at the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport may be finally in the offing as the new Bidhannagar police commissionerate is exploring various possibilities to bail the passengers out of this long-standing crisis.

In addition, the commissionerate is also focusing on improving traffic management along the VIP Road and Salt Lake and haul up law and order in the satellite township.

Passengers arriving at the airport often struggle to find a taxi to reach their destination. The condition gets worse at night when they get stranded in absence of cabs. Worst still, touts have a free run and fleece passengers at will.

“We have had discussions with stakeholders on this prepaid taxi issue. More prepaid taxi counters, better vigilance on the touts are some of the changes that can be expected in about 10 days,” said commissioner Bidhannagar police Rajeev Kumar.

Improved night policing and bringing down crime rate are also being looked into by the newly formed commissionerate. Though the strength of the force is a challenge in implementing bigger projects, there are small plans like night cycle patrolling by men in uniform.

“There are a good number of elderly people in the township who become soft targets. We will tighten up vigilance to keep crime under check,” said Kumar.

One-way traffic will be introduced in Sector V from February 6. Aimed at better traffic management, this experiment could be replicated in other areas later. For VIP Road, clearing the stretch of encroachment, roping in volunteers and train them to assist police in managing traffic are some plans that are being discussed.

“Traffic is something that affects residents as well as commuters from other areas. Our effort will be ensuring better traffic movement,” Kumar added.

Kumar also said that his force will scrutinize shuttle taxis, which have become a security concern, operating to and fro the IT hub. Passengers, especially IT professionals and BPO executives, bank on these taxis at night in absence of public transport.

Those who have been fuming over delay in verification by police in cases like while applying for passport, have the reason feel good. The police chief has plans of setting timeline for such verification.

“We are working to fast-track police verification. For example, if verification by police for passport will be done within a timeframe, residents are ensured a certainty and they can go ahead with their plans accordingly,” said the commissioner.

With so many plans being charted out, manpower crunch remains a major hurdle for the commisssionerate, with the strength at present standing at 500. Around 1,700 new posts were sanctioned for the commissionerate, in addition to the 300 posts that were lying vacant. Recruitment process is on. The lot of the force’s effectiveness will depend on manpower. The nine police stations under the commissionerate expands over 109 square kilometre.

“It is a transition from district policing to city policing. We do not want to start something big unless we have resources to make it sustainable, else it will only boomerang. We want to be given some time. Meanwhile, we will try our best with the available resources,” said Kumar.

Quick response and focused approach to policing will be the mantra for the newly formed commissionerate. Residents under the nine police stations can dial Bidhanagar police control room numbers 4062 1111, 4063 1111 apart from 100 in case they need police assistance.

Even as there are few no parking zones in Salt Lake, the concept has not worked effectively in the township. Bidhanagar police is introducing a drive to make people aware. From now on vehicles parked in inappropriate places may find stickers pasted by the police, warning that the vehicle is illegally parked and unsafe. Such vehicles will be let of with the warning for few times, before they are fined finally.

Now, take a bus from Tagore tank to Nazrul

KOLKATA: Soon, you might be taking a bus from ‘Rabindranath’ to ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’ or asking autorickshaws if they would drop you off at ‘ARishi urobindo’. These are the names being given to the tanks in Salt Lake – again a brainwave of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Salt Lake residents have, for decades, referred to their water tank numbers as landmarks to help guests and visitors trace their addresses. But Bidhannagar Municipality apparently finds this practice ridiculous.These tanks will no longer be identified by their numbers, at least officially.

Prodded by the chief minister, tanks 1 to 14 and 16 and 17 are being renamed after famous personalities. There is even one named ‘Mahanayak Uttam Kumar’, just as the Tollygunge Metro station. This is going to be a tough one for tourists.

Salt Lake residents will have a hard time remembering the names of the tanks. The lone tank that has not been renamed is Tank No. 15 that lies within Salt Lake stadium. Municipality chairperson Krishna Chakraborty said the exercise was undertaken to pay respect to luminaries from Bengal and elsewhere. Before the last Bidhannagar Municipality and assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee had promised Salt Lake residents that their water tanks and roads would have “proper identification”.

However, the renaming has received flak from a section of the residents. “It’s ridiculous. How will it sound if I say I live near Ramkrishna Paramhansa tank? It would have been much more reasonable to rename the islands instead,” said Swapan Saha, a local.

But another group welcomed the municipality’s move. “Initially, it may take some time for people to adjust to the names. But it could be a very useful and good way of identifying addresses and will create awareness about luminaries who names have been used,” said Bidhannagar Welfare Association general secretary Kumar Shankar Sadhu.

Tax waiver soon for Salt Lake residents

KOLKATA: If you are a resident of Salt Lake and cursing your municipality for not waiving property tax like the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) did for city dwellers, breathe easy. The Trinamool Congress government has finally decided to introduce a tax waiver scheme for Bidhannagar Municipality. State urban development minister Firhad Hakim on Tuesday said the government was working on the process of implementing the waiver scheme.

“Similar to the KMC, we are working on the process of implementing the tax waiver scheme for Bidhannagar Municipality,” Hakim said at Writers’ Buildings on Tuesday.

The Trinamool-led Bidhannagar Municipality had long been mulling introduction of a tax waiver scheme for the residents of the township. Ever since Supreme Court had scrapped the municipality’s property tax structure in 2007, declaring it as arbitrary, the civic body has been suffering a severe fund crunch. It could not collect property tax that is a major source of revenue generation. The previous Left-run civic body had set a target to collect an annual property tax of Rs 12 crore after preparing a new tax structure.

Bidhannagar Municipality chairperson Krisna Chakraborty said the civic body is ready to collect property tax once the waiver scheme gets introduced. “We are ready. Introduction of the tax waiver scheme will benefit us,” she said.

Civic officials said the residents of the township will be benefitted with the introduction of the waiver as most have not paid tax since 2007, following the Court verdict. Till now, tax arrears run into crores. With the introduction of the scheme, most of the residents will likely be required to clear the principal due.

However, the Bidhannagar Welfare Association that has been continuously fighting on this disputed property tax issue, wanted to know about what the government was exactly planning on. “We have not been informed as to what amount of tax the residents have to pay, so where does the question of having a tax waiver scheme comes from?” association general secretary Kumar Shankar Sadhu said.

The civic body had also decided to make fresh assessments of tax and was to send self-assessment forms to the residents. The welfare association had been repeatedly saying that the civic body had no bar in collecting tax following the old tax structure.There is finally some good news for the residents of Salt Lake. The Mamata Banerjee government has decided to introduce a tax waiver scheme for the Bidhannagar municipality.

State urban development minister Firhad Hakim said that the government was working on the process to implement the waiver scheme soon. “Similar to KMC, we are working on the process to implement the tax waiver scheme for Bidhannagar municipality,” Hakim said at Writers Buildings on Tuesday.

The Trinamool led Bidhannagar municipality had been mulling on to introduce a tax waiver scheme for the residents of the township. Ever since the Supreme Court had scrapped the Bidhannagar Municipality’s property tax structure back in 2007, declaring it as arbitrary, unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The civic body has been badly suffering a fund crunch, as they could not collect property tax which is a major source of revenue generation. The previous Left run civic body had set a target to collect an annual property tax amount of Rs 12 crore after preparing a new tax structure.

Bidhannagar municipality chairperson Krisna Chakraborty said that the civic body is ready to collect property tax once the waiver scheme gets introduced. “We are ready. Introducing the tax waiver scheme will benefit us much,” she said. The civic body is hoping to collect valuable revenues by collecting tax following the old tax rate.

Civic officials said that the residents of the township will be benefitted with the introduction of the waiver scheme as most residents have not paid tax since 2007 following the Court verdict. Till now, tax arrears run into crores. With the introduction of the waiver scheme, most of the residents will likely be required to clear the principal due.

However, the Bidhannagar Welfare Association that has been continuously fighting on this disputed property tax issue wanted to know about what the government was exactly planning on. “We have not been informed as to what amount of tax the residents have to pay, so where does the question of having a tax waiver scheme comes from?” said association general secretary Kumar Shankar Sadhu.

The civic body had also decided to make fresh assessments of tax and was to send self assessment forms to the residents. The welfare association had been repeatedly saying that the civic body had no bar of collecting tax following the old tax structure.