Mayor Firhad Hakim has a New Year resolution: to fulfill a promise that Kolkata’s fifth mayor, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, had made over 90 years ago.
Bose was elected mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 1930 after serving as chief executive officer under mayor Chittaranjan Das in 1924.
“When Netaji Subhas Bose was the mayor, there was major rainfall one day, leading to waterlogging everywhere, particularly in the Thanthania Kalibari area. Wearing a raincoat and gumboots, Subhas Bose, accompanied by his officers, walked all the way from the KMC headquarters in Esplanade to Thanthania kalibari in north Kolkata. There was waist-deep water in the area, so the water entered Bose’s gumboots. Seeing that, he had promised to end the waterlogging problem there,” Hakim told The Plurals News Network in an exclusive chat.
“The waterlogging problem still persists in that area and I have a dream to complete what Netaji promised so many years back. Starting work on measures to prevent waterlogging is one of my new year resolutions for the city,” Hakim added.
“Another key agenda for me is to rejuvenate Adi Ganga (Tolly’s Nullah). Apart from cleaning and making it pollution-free, we are also planning to build a lock gate near Dudhghat, close to the point of Adi Ganga’s entry into the city, so that we can infuse fresh water into Adi Ganga,” said the mayor.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had virtually launched sewerage infrastructure projects worth Rs 2550 crores, which includes Rs 638 crores for Adi Ganga. The mayor said the money will come in handy for the rejuvenation attempt.
Hakim’s other new year resolutions for the city include planting 50,000 trees in 2023, reduction in air pollution and implementation of the ban on thin plastic carry bags.
Plastic carry bags less than 75 microns in thickness are banned and the benchmark is set to increase to 120 microns from January 2023, but thinner plastic bags continue to be used rampantly in shops and markets in the city.
The mayor recently said an increase in plastic pollution was one of the failures of the current one-year-old civic board. Air pollution is another worry. Data from the central pollution control board shows that the city has had poorer air quality in December 2022 than the December before.
“I also want to improve the condition of roads and make them more user-friendly for those walking,” said Hakim. According to him, work on heritage conservation and road signages are underway.
