The Southern Avenue boulevard maintained by Karukrit and (above) the front of Tollygunge Metro station maintained by Chirag. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The civic authority’s attempt at sprucing up the city with private participation has fallen flat. Two years after the launch of Mission Beautification, a civic facelift programme, most of the ear-marked spots remain eyesores.

Out of a dozen city pockets that were identified for beautification and maintenance in collaboration with private bodies, only two have undergone cosmetic changes. They are Phoolbagan in north Calcutta and the front of Tollygunge Metro station in south. But even these changes are inadequate.

Several shrubs and a couple of statues are all that Chirag, a private outdoor advertising agency, has to show by way of beautification in front of Tollygunge Metro station. But the agency has spared no effort in using the place for self-promotion. At Southern Avenue, Karukrit has put up large hoardings advertising itself, doing precious little to spruce up the place.

In late 2006, CMC decided to hand over several prominent street corners, stretches of pavements and boulevards to private companies, individuals and NGOs for “adoption” so that they are kept clean and are well maintained. The civic authorities invited “expression of interest” from parties asking them for proposals and presentations. Though the overall response was very poor, several outdoor advertising agencies were shortlisted by the parks and gardens wing of the CMC.

Incoda, Enkon, Chirag and Karukrit presented their proposals and signed agreements with the CMC for beautifying alloted spots. But now after two years, those presentations have not translated into reality.

When the civic authority made its displeasure felt over the pace of work, the private agencies, one and all, turned the table against it saying the CMC itself was responsible for the delay. The civic body had failed to hand over the pavements for development after removing obstacles like hawkers, trees, lamp posts and billboards, they alleged.

Civicspeak:

“Most of these private enterprises are more interested in tying up with the CMC and extracting personal mileage out of it than doing anything for the benefit of the common man. There would have been a scramble among private parties if we had given them hoarding rights on those sites,” said mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

Agencyspeak:

“We will take up beautification programmes at Park Street, Camac Street and Shakespeare Sarani soon. We have carried out such projects at Sector V in Salt Lake. The CMC took a long time in issuing work orders. The civic body’s procrastination and pavement encroachment are the two main hurdles in implementing a scheme on time,” said the managing director of Enkon, Anjan Banerjee Chaudhury.

“The main obstacle to urban renewal and beautification of the city is encroachment. Normally, it takes three to four months to implement a beautification scheme. But it takes more than a year for the CMC to remove the encroachment and relocate lamp posts, feeder boxes and telephone boxes from the pavements,” said Debasish Saha of Karukrit.

Residentspeak:

“We were happy to know that the boulevard opposite our house at Southern Avenue would be spruced up soon. In reality the boulevard’s condition is worsening by the day,” said Sarat Sharma, a student of Class XI of St Lawrence School.

“I don’t think pavement-dwellers and beautified pavements can co-exist side by sides,” said Afrina Sultana, a human resources development student. “The pavement in front of Park Circus seven-point crossing is in very bad shape but who is bothered,” she asked.

“I have been running my shop Mithai at Beckbagan for 50 years. There are two bus shelters at a distance of five feet. Besides, there are hawkers. Forget about any beautification. We would have been happy if the CMC could keep the pavements clean,” said Sadhan Ghosh of Mithai.

Beauty spots

Rajballavpara (Incoda)
Opposite Indian Airlines office (Incoda)
Jaba Kusum Island (Incoda)
Esplanade from Lenin Sarani crossing to Grand Hotel (Incoda)
Park Street (Enkon)
Camac Street (Enkon)
Shakespeare Sarani (Enkon)
Beckbagan in front of Mithai (Incoda)
Boulevard of Jadavpur University (Incoda)
Deshapriya Park (Incoda)
Park Circus seven-point crossing (Incoda)
Boulevard of Southern Avenue (Karukrit)
Rest of the portion of Boulevard of Southern Avenue (Encon)