Residents of almost all major housing complexes in New Town met Tapash Chatterjee, the MLA of Rajarhat-New Town, and voiced their concerns about flooding in the township.
Chatterjee, however, told The Telegraph Salt Lake on the sidelines of the meeting held under the Axis Mall flyover that there was at least knee-deep water in front of his own house, off Rajarhat Main Road.
“My own house has at least knee-deep water in front of it. Water-logging is a problem in Rajarhat as well and several areas, like Narayanpur, Gopalpur, Patharghata among others, are still badly flooded,” Chatterjee on Monday.
Chatterjee also told the residents that this was the first interaction he had with them and that he “did not know much about New Town”. “I have been elected in March and had an idea that New Town, being a smart city, did not have many problems but after coming here I realise that there are many issues here,” he said.
He then told the residents’ gathering that he would again meet a “group of representatives from them” after three months.
“I am associated with more than 200 clubs in Rajarhat and won’t find time to seek solutions to your problems during the Pujas. It is best that we meet after three months,” he said.
Many residents, who attended the meet organised by the New Town Forum and News (NTFN), said that they had never seen water-logging like this in the past decade and half.
Haribandhu Hira, a resident of Balaka Abasan, said that his was one of the worst-affected complexes in New Town and although flooding was nothing new in the complex, this year was particularly difficult for them.
“Our complex has turned into a saucer of sorts as all the roads are at a higher level and whenever it rains we get flooded. We want a solution to this as we are fed up living in such a condition since 2003,” said Hira.
Avik Kumar Sinha from NBCC Vibgyor said several elderly residents and those in need of dialysis were stranded since their complex got flooded. “We want a permanent solution to this as well as stop-gap measures like installing water pumps and cutting roads to create drains,” he said.
A BC Block resident said plastic must be banned and all canals that flow through New Town should be cleaned up. “The Bagjola Canal and its feeder channels must be dredged properly to ensure that water drains out quickly. If need be, a new canal must be dug out,” said the resident, Sourav Maity.
Abhijit Ghosh from a water-logged Sukhobrishti in Bermuda shorts
Another protest meet
Panchayat area and NKDA area became one in the tales of woe shared by residents last Friday at another mass convention called at the same venue by New Town Citizens’ Welfare Fraternity.
Other than 10 speakers from across New Town, there was a voice from neighbouring Ramkrishna Pally. “We still have knee-deep water in our homes in Gauranganagar, Sulangari and Ramkrishna Pally. We have complained to the panchayat pradhan too but to no avail,” said Jayanta Sarkar.
If he came in Bermuda shorts, so did Abhijit Ghosh from Sukhobrishti, the reason being the same — inundation in their area days after the rain.
Additional reporting by Sudeshna Banerjee