Believe it or not !
‘Believe it or not, this metropolis never had a town planner since 1947. Only last month did those in charge of Kolkata’s upkeep and development take a hard and close look around them to discover the mess this city is in. And realisation dawned on them that we urgently need a town planner. This realisation was in no small measure due to Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Alapan Bandopadhyay who, as I said last week, is a sensible man. And also to a lot of prodding by aid agencies like the DFID, the ADB and US Aid that are funding various projects in the city. Now, a postgraduate in town planning, Dipankar Sinha, has been appointed the town planner and he has an onerous mandate—to set right the problems created by unregulated and even ludicrous development over the past 60 years and frame guidelines for future projects to ensure balanced and aesthetic growth across the city. As Bandopadhyay said recently, “we (meaning Kolkata’s successive civic bosses, developers, planners and realtors) have made a mess of the name of development, be it in laying roads, setting up markets or erecting buildings”. Kolkata, he rightly warned, will die of suffocation if this unplanned development is not halted immediately. All this is fine, but I can’t help wondering why this realisation (that haphazard and unaesthetic development will choke this city and make it an ugly place) never dawned on all those who’ve presided over Kolkata’s destiny all these years. Were they devoid of any common sense? And can, or will, Kolkatans hold them responsible for failing in their duties?’
By JAIDEEP MAZUMDAR
In Outlook Kolkata Korner
