After Calcutta, it?s the turn of Howrah.

Rattled by complaints from various quarters that a boom for Calcutta means a neglect of its twin city, the state government has drawn up an ambitious Rs 800-crore Howrah Rejuvenation Plan.

Under the plan, a string of development projects will be undertaken in the next five years in Howrah town, Bally, Shibpur, Belur, Tikiapara, Shalimar and Uluberia.

The scheme includes setting up of water treatment plants, storm water drainage systems and a solid waste management mechanism; improvement of the sewerage system; widening and lighting of major roads leading to Howrah station, Delhi Road and Mumbai Road; construction of residential and commercial estates and beautification of parks and gardens.

Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) will implement the project, with help from Howrah Municipal Corporation, Howrah Improvement Trust (HIT) and the zilla parishad.

A portion of the funds will come from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the rest from private investors and the CMDA. Talks are on with Asian Development Bank and World Bank.

A monitoring committee ? comprising officials from the CMDA, HIT, zilla parishad and the municipal affairs department ? will oversee the progress of work. The DFID is expected to provide Rs 1 crore to prepare an item-wise plan.

?We have taken up projects to ensure a balanced development of Calcutta and Howrah. We have not neglected Howrah, but feel there is room for improving its infrastructure,? said urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya.

?Instead of taking up projects in a scattered way, we adopted a comprehensive scheme for Howrah and its neighbouring areas,? he added.

The action plan and the work schedule are based on the report of an expert committee, headed by S.K. Roy, a noted urban planner and member of the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Committee, CMDA director-general Tushar Mitra told Metro.

Despite minister Bhattacharya?s claim that the government had never been biased against Howrah, officials concede discrimination in the allocation of funds for the twin cities. While over Rs 2,000 crore had been spent for Calcutta?s infrastructure in the past five years, only Rs 300 crore had been spent in Howrah.

Of the two agencies responsible for undertaking development work in Howrah, one (the civic body) is facing a financial crunch and the other (HIT) is virtually defunct.

A senior CPM district leader made no bones of what he considers lopsided policies undertaken by his superiors in the party. ?Of the twin cities, the government seems to be more occupied with Calcutta,? he said.

?No major development project had been taken up in the past 10 years. The supply of drinking water is not enough, the sewerage system is defective and solid waste management is almost non-existent in vast areas of the district. The government has woken up late, but we are happy that it has woken up at last.?