Krishna Chakraborty hosted a “meet the mayor” session with residents of Ward 29 on February 16, where they discussed problems and possible solutions to a wide range of issues. Accompanying her were deputy mayor Tapas Chatterjee and mayoral council members Pranoy Roy, Rajesh Chirimar, Rahima Bibi, Sudhir Saha and other representatives of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.

Pigeons being fed in front of CK Market. Cars parked on both sides of the road in BK Block Brinda Sarkar

Parked in the way

A common problem raised by residents was that of a huge number of cars parked in lanes, blocking traffic. Often, residents find it difficult to take their own vehicles out as others’ cars are parked blocking their gates.

“Near Digantika in AH Block, 30 to 40 cars are parked after 8pm every night. I suspect residents of Kestopur park their cars here and cross the footbridge to go home,” said a resident of AL Block. An elderly resident said an ambulance was parked outside his house for a year. “I suggest you fine a few cars heavily to set an example,” said a CK Block resident.

Conceding the problem, Chakraborty said many people rent their garages out to caretakers and park their own cars on the road.

Another complaint was against paying guests (PG)s. “A group of PG boys drink under a broken street light near our house and when we complained, they threw their bottles at our house,” said an AL Block resident. Others said they made a racket well into the night.

Dilip Dutta of CL Block said guest houses were changing the character of their neighbourhood. “Do they check the identity cards of guests? Is there any check on guests who rent rooms for one or two hours?” he asked.

Chakraborty felt that perhaps two out of 10 homes in the township kept PGs. “But we have no records. Landlords don’t inform us about PGs as they’ll have to pay us extra. In an attempt to save a few pennies, they put the entire block’s safety at risk, not to mention the huge amount of water these PGs consume. And if we land up at their doorsteps enquiring about the PGs landlords claim they are relatives.” Nonetheless she asked block committees to make a list of PGs in their lanes and hand it to over for checks to be done.

Littering dogs, pigeon poop

Many complained about street dogs defecating and dragging litter all over the roads, chasing passersby and scaring away residents and guests.

Chakraborty cited a court order that said a dog’s home was where he was born and that they could not be removed. “The corporation does not have the funds to sterilise or vaccinate them. Still we have earmarked some space where they may be sterilised. I had opened a pet burial ground too but it was near the dumping yard so we are currently searching a better spot for that,” said the mayor, who is also the local councillor.

Justice (retd) Soumitra Sen, a resident of CL Block, offered help in this regard. “I know some residents who have sterilised the dogs of their own lanes and they want to do more. If we have your support we can get this done. Money will not be a problem.”

Ajay Kumar Das of CK Block said six cows loiter in front of his house every afternoon, leaving behind a trail of dung and that a leaking pipe in the plot opposite his house had become a free-for-all car wash.

Dutta pointed at the potential health hazard outside CK Market, where pigeons are fed by people all day long. “Breathing in air contaminated by pigeon droppings leads to respiratory problems,” he said.

Some residents felt fogging had become infrequent, leading to a rise in the mosquito count. To this the mayor said that fogging was just an eyewash. “Fogging simply shoos away mosquitoes; after a while they can fly back. What we are doing is spraying larvicide in our canals to stop the breeding of the pests altogether,” she said.

To this a BK Block resident responded. “In that case, either fog the entire township or stop it completely. The other day they fogged the CK Market area, the mosquitoes might have flown to BK Block to bite us!”

Encroachment worry

A Sarat Abasan resident raised an alarm about their canal side getting encroached. Onkar Banerjee of CK Block, said the same about the empty plots between CK Market and Kashmir Bhavan. “People have been living there for years and after midnight that road becomes theirs. One is scared to walk past,” he said.

Chakraborty noted the plot numbers and said she would inform the urban development department about the menace. “But please inform me the minute you see anyone encroaching on any property. It is much easier to evict them then than years later.”

She recalled she had evicted two or three tea sellers, who had squatted on the footpath between Tank 9 and Karunamoye. “Six hundred students from Jadavpur University came and gheraoed Bidhannagar east thana demanding we let them return!”

Miscellaneous

Some asked for the canal to be cleaned, for speed breakers to be built at busy junctions and for their markets to modelled after IA Market, the swankiest of block markets in the township.

“Why are roads in CL Block breaking barely three months after being repaired?” asked an elderly lady. To this, a corporation engineer replied that contractors are liable to repair any damages occurring within three years of the work. “We have noted your complaint,” he said.

An AL Block resident complained about the network of hanging cables. “My father cannot sit in our balcony as cables are cutting through it,” he said. Chakraborty asked him to complain to the service provider who owns the cable. “If he does not, inform us and we shall remove them,” she said.

Work in progress

Ward assistant Subhanu Biswas shared the work they had done over the past few years, block by block. Parks have got netted, high mast lights installed, roads repaired… “CK-CL Park has got a pay and use toilet, AJ Park has got a shed outside the hall, AK Park has got levelled and paver blocks installed outside. In BJ Block, there was water shortage so we installed a new pipeline...” said Biswas, who is better known as Bappa in the ward.

He also mentioned upcoming projects. “Footpaths will be built or repaired across the ward, such as around the east police station and Kalyani Public School opposite CK Market. More parks will get sheds and BJ Park will get a pay and use toilet,” Biswas said.

Chakraborty said she has a letterbox at her ward office in CJ Block where residents can drop anonymous complaints or suggestions.