Water-logged streets, littered vacant plots, lack of parking space… Salt Lake AJ Block residents got to voice their civic complaints directly to Krishna Chakraborty, chairperson, board of administrators and local ward co-ordinator at a meeting held at the block community hall on August 29.
“The administration is doing its best despite a severe cut in our income. We used to earn revenue from renting out banquet halls, play grounds, swimming pools but these have taken a hit due to the pandemic,” Chakraborty said. “And due to the court case on property tax, many residents are still paying taxes as low as Rs 60 and 70. Still, I want to meet residents face to face to know and solve your problems,” she said.
The work done in the ward was enumerated, such as improving water supply, street lights, road repairs, and rebuilding of the park fence destroyed in cyclone Amphan. Work is also nearing completion on a meditation hall on the terrace of the AJ Block community hall.
But residents too raised some issues:
Dirty vacant plots
An empty plot in the block that has turned into an open vat. Pictures by Debasmita Bhattacharjee
Alok Ghosh said he was fed up of the littered vacant plot opposite his house. “People dump their rubbish here and street dogs drag the packets to the road, scattering the litter along the way,” he said.
Pabitra Biswas, secretary of the block, said the three vacant plots surrounding his house resembled a national park now, with dense vegetation having overrun the place. Besides plastic and thermocol, residents said a family that had lost a member had even dumped the mattress used by the deceased person in one of their empty plots.
“For how long can neighbours pool in money and maintain such plots? Besides the health hazards related to mosquitoes and flies breeding there, it’s also a security issue as brokers keep coming to show the plots to potential buyers,” Biswas said.
Chakraborty said that there were some 150 vacant plots in the ward and that it wasn’t possible for the workers to tend to them daily. “We do send them over to sprinkle bleaching power and the like once in a while,” she pointed out. “If an under-construction building is creating waste or stagnating water, give me the number of its caretaker or contractor and I will do the needful.”
But at the same time, she asked residents to ensure cleanliness in their own houses. “We have used drones to inspect homes around the corporation and found that many terraces have stagnant water that go on to breed mosquitoes. Then there are residents and domestic helps who fling plastic bags of garbage at empty plots as they stroll out of their houses. They don’t even drain the water used for mopping, in the toilets. They throw it down balconies often soaking pedestrians and two-wheelers,” she said.
Parking woes
An abandoned house in AJ Block that has got overrun by wild growth. Pictures by Debasmita Bhattacharjee
Residents sought a solution to the perennial problem of car parking. So severe is the issue, that a ward representative mentioned how an AJ Block resident had heaped a pile of rubble in front of his house, refusing outright to have it removed for close to three months. “The man wants the rubbish to stay there as it ensures no one can park a car in front of his house!” he said.
Biswas observed that it was a socio-economic problem. “When our parents built houses in Salt Lake there was just a handful of cars in the block and now my neighbour has three. A block easily has 300 to 350 cars and these families have friends and relatives coming over all the time. While we really can’t blame them, we are contemplating issuing stickers to cars of the block. It should raise consciousness and at least make the owners park the cars in their garage instead of outside,” Biswas said.
Chakraborty empathised and explained that at times her own car has to be parked quite a distance away from her CJ Block home. “Instead of parking their cars in garages, many residents let the garages out for some business or to caretakers’ families. But even in such cases, they can at least keep the cars in the driveway and not clog the road,” she said, while appreciating AJ Block’s idea of car stickers.
Water-logging
Biswajit Ghosh complained about waterlogging, adding that rainwater was even entering his house this year.
To this, Chakraborty said they had spent good money upgrading the system, employing hundreds of pumps to flush out excess water and that they were holding many a discussion with experts across disciplines to solve the problem.
“But the tragedy is that while clearing the sewerage lines we are finding them clogged with everything from diapers and coconuts to biscuit packets and tyres. “The banks of the Kestopur Canal are encroached and the squatters dump their waste into the water, further chocking our lines,” she said.
She also asked residents to harvest rainwater. “It is raining so much this year. Store that water and use it to wash cars or mop the floor.”
To chop or not to chop
A resident said a huge but unstable tree stood next to his house and that the corporation should remove it before it falls. To this Chakraborty said she received multiple complains of this nature but they only surfaced for a few months every year.
“When it’s mango season, neighbours claim and relish the fruits that land on their side of the wall. But as soon as the season is over, they want the tree chopped off,” she noted. “On the contrary, you should keep an eye out for anyone who tries to fell trees for selfish reasons. If you protest, they will refrain.”
Tenant safety
Maitreyee Das said her neighbour was using his residential plot for a commercial establishment. “They do not have permission but still run a restaurant that draws a crowd profile that makes me uncomfortable till late at night,” she said.
Chakraborty said they had pulled up this landlord twice before and would not hesitate to do it again. She also mentioned how many residents did not declare they had tenants, with the motive of saving on taxes. “If we catch them, they say the tenants are their relatives who have come to live with them. It can become a security issue, like what happened in the Sukhobrishti gangster case,” Chakraborty said, referring to the recent shootout in New Town.
All masked up
Papiya Chakraborty complained that the shopkeepers in the unorganised market behind route 206 bus terminus did not wears masks and that they took to drinking in the open after business hours.
Krishna Chakraborty summoned a few hawkers from the market and gave them a dressing down. “Are you not maintaining hygiene? Why is the stench of fish reaching this hall? Yours is not a planned market but I allowed it for the sake of elderly residents who cannot walk too far to shop. But if you do not follow instructions, I shall evict you,” she warned.
The chairperson also mentioned how super spreaders were being vaccinated free of cost in the ward and how those who were caught without masks in different areas under the corporation were being — not just fined but even — arrested.
The Telegraph Salt Lake asked 10 other blocks and housing complexes across the township about the
DB Block
On weekends, our lanes are chock-a-block with cars that do not find parking space in the neighbouring City Centre. It’s a nuisance! Sick residents have been unable to leave for the hospital as these cars stood blocking their gates. The other day a lorry came to dump rubble in an empty plot in our block as they had no space to throw them near the construction site in CA Block! Previously rainwater would recede in 15 minutes but this year it is taking a good six hours to recede. The water almost enters our ground floors.
Loknath Sastri, Secretary Baisakhi Abasan
The roads outside our complex are cratered (picture right) and the cobwebs of cables dangling at the sides make it all the more dangerous. We saw two back-to-back bike accidents there where one of the bikers even died but still no attempt has been made to remove the cables. The lanes are getting dug up now to lay broadband cables and they remain a hazard till they are covered up. Our sewerage and drainage systems are ancient too. Every time it pours, water from the adjacent Kestopur Canal seeps into our complex through leaks in underground pipes and the stench become unbearable.
Sukhendu Khamaru, Secretary
GD Block
Renovation work had started in our park but it is now lying abandoned. The wild growth is so dense that let along children, even adults don’t feel safe entering. Water logging has increased and pumps are not effective in sucking the water out. The number of cars in the block is double that of garages so our lanes are perennially congested. Footpaths have got encroached by personal gardens so we pedestrians have to walk on roads.
Kumar Sankar Sadhu, President
FC Block
We are suffering from major water-logging problems, with lanes getting inundated even after moderate shower. Water is even seeping into the underground reservoirs of some houses. What’s worse, three manhole covers have got stolen from our streets. They have been covered temporarily with stones but an accident can happen any time. Repeated complaints to the administration are yielding no results.
Nilanjan Brahma, Assistant secretary
DL Block
We are at our wit’s end with the problem of street dogs. We have 50 to 60 of them in the block and last month they bit four to five people, including a five-year-old child. One group of residents wants the dogs out while another group loves them and feeds them. We have sought the help of everyone from the police and the forest department to NGOs and the corporation but no one has the infrastructure to help us.
Krishna Prasad Saha, General secretary
HA Block
One particular lane in our block is getting inundated this monsoon. There’s enough water to swim in and it takes three days for the water to recede! Residents are suffering. We have complained to all possible authorities but are still waiting for a solution. One of our parks has also become a jungle.
Tarasankar Chatterjee, Block committee member
Sarat Abasan
The banks of the adjacent Kestopur Canal have become jungles and are breeding mosquitoes. They need urgent clearing. The empty spaces around are getting encroached too (picture above). Every summer we suffer from water shortage and have requested the authorities to replace our pipes with wider ones. We have been promised action but nothing has materialised yet. Cars whizz through our stretch without a care and so we need speed breakers. We have a few of them but they are extremely high and are not painted, making them difficult to spot.
Soumen Kumar Dutta, Secretary
EC Block
Parking is a big issue in our block. Multiple cars come to restaurants, spas, salons and block the street outside with their vehicles. Many people headed to City Centre now park in our bylanes and walk out of passages. Rainwater is inundating us but it recedes in an hour. Maybe the clogs in the pipes can be cleaned for smoother flow.
Mouli Nath Maji, Secretary
JC Block
“A large hospital lies in our block and their visitors have usurped an empty plot next to it for parking cars. It’s became a menace for us living here. There’s constant crowd and the drivers have turned the space into an open urinal. We have stretches in our block that have been dark for nearly two years now and no amount of complaining seems to get the street lights repaired. Will residents celebrate the Pujas in the dark this year? The stretch becomes all the more dangerous when there is water-logging.
Tapan Kumar Sharma, Block committee member
CB Block
This year the water-logging is much more than in other years. Roads too are getting damaged because of it. Repair work is going on but it needs to be faster. Sixty per cent of our block population comprises elderly residents who are scared of falling while walking on uneven roads.
Soumen Goswami, Secretary