Sujan Chakraborty, the CPM candidate from the Dum Dum constituency, is perhaps the only campaigner in these parts who has the environment on his lips.

On May Day, Chakraborty in the company of Left Front chairman Biman Bose, held a road show down VIP Road. When he took the stage in a lane off the Kestopur crossing, one of the issues that he raised was the environment and climate change.

Environment is a contentious issue in the area, given that people have been building high-rises right next to garbage dumps and covering up natural canals to promote real estate. Dozens of trees have been felled over the years and stretches of footpaths along VIP Road and in Dum Dum have been rendered barren.

This is in contrast to even 10 years back when the road from Ultadanga to the airport was lush with greenery on both sides of the road.

“The East Kolkata Wetlands need immediate attention. The environment will not pay the price for Trinamul’s gluttony. I am going to be the climate warrior of the East Kolkata Wetlands and for the city. Not one stretch of the wetlands will be allowed to be devoured by real estate sharks. Climate change is a major issue and real estate is a key trigger. Reckless disposal of garbage in the wetlands is also causing major crises in aquatic life. This is going to make all the difference to the region’s climate. This cycle of flash floods and heat waves will spell our doom. The need of the hour is to take environment-friendly measures,” Chakraborty said.

He also addressed the issue of industrialisation, or the lack of it. Dum Dum was the headquarters of Bengal’s artillery in the British era, right up till the 19th century. Jute mills, tanneries, iron and steel rolling works, glass, match and soap factories mushroomed in Dum Dum after Independence. But many of these, both private and government-owned, are shut for several decades now.

“There are a lot of factories in the Dum Dum area which have downed shutters, including Jessop & Co. which was founded in 1788 and got liquidated in 2013. So many people lost jobs then. I wish to reopen these companies,” Chakraborty said.

Drinking water, he said, was a major concern in Rajarhat, Dum Dum, Kestopur, Baguiati and other areas along VIP Road. Another issue he flagged is garbage collection and disposal. “Several canals along Kestopur need immediate cleaning. They are so filthy that no one even wants to drive past these roads. Syndicates led by Trinamul Congress are active all across Dum Dum. They take money from the public on one pretext or the other. They must perish,” he said.

He pointed to corruption in the urban civic bodies too. “We will take measures against it. I promise that your children will not have to go to other cities to look for work. They will find work here and live with their parents. Calcutta will no longer be known as the old age home of India,” he signed off with a flourish.

But if the buzz on the streets is to be heeded, Chakraborty has a tough fight on his hand not just against Sougata Roy of Trinamul Congress but also his party’s past. As the fluttering red flags marched down, locals watching the rally reflected on how the once-mighty party now could not even cobble together 200 people in a road show for one of its senior-most leaders. Elderly citizens, out on evening walk, paused to watch. “It is a pity to see them reduced to this. But that doesn’t wash away their sins of three decades,” said one of them, 60-year-old Agniva Halder of Rabindra Pally, Kestopur.

“What the CPM is doing now, it should have done 20 years back. People lost faith in them a long time ago,” said Sunita Saha, a resident of Baguiati, watching Chakraborty take stage.