The swimming pool in Central Park. Picture by Saradindu Chaudhury

Swimming pool in salt lake...

This summer you will no longer have to struggle for space in the BF Block swimming pool. The civic body has built a new pool at Central Park, opposite Bikash Bhavan. Construction is complete and membership forms should start getting distributed by this month-end.

The pool will be 10-laned and 50m x 25m in size. There will be two diving boards to take a dip from, one at a height of 10 ft and another at a height of 15 ft. The average depth of the pool is 1.7m. There will also be a circular learners’ pool of 8m radius. Other facilities will include changing rooms, two toilet blocks and a cafeteria. A gymnasium might come up too. There will be parking space for 30 cars. The project cost is Rs 2.6 crore.

...and New Town

A complex coming up in Action Area 1A will have two full-length pools measuring 25m x 16m. The complex, situated near Vivek Tirtha Park, is spread over two acres and will also have a learner’s pool of 1.8m depth. The advanced swimmers’ pools will have eight lanes and be 1.2m deep. New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is executing the project and it is expected to cost Rs 9.5 crore.

Saradindu Chaudhury

Children’s Park in GD Block

On January 23, children of GD Block will get a new play area in their block. The block already has a playground and another field where Durga puja takes place. This new play area is in the field opposite Punjab National Bank and will have swings, slides etc. installed. It will also have a senior citizens’ corner seating about 10 people. It has been decked up with seasonal flowers, ornamental plants etc. Fruit-bearing trees like guava, mango, coconut and jamrul have been planted to attract birds. A fountain has been built with colourful underwater lights. The park will be open from 4pm to 6pm every day.

more beds at Matri Sadan

The EE Block hospital will be able to take in more patients. Eighty beds are being added, taking the total count to 100. The municipality-run hospital is not adding more space but is getting redesigned to accommodate the new beds. Work should be completed by end-January at a cost of Rs 1 crore.

Rabindra Bhavan

After Rabindra Okakura Bhavan opposite City Centre and Rabindra Tirtha in New Town, work will now start on another cultural centre dedicated to the bard.

A seven-storeyed Rabindra Bhavan will come up at FE 505, the corner plot opposite Netaji Park. A statue of Tagore was installed there in 2013. The centre would have a 1,000-seater auditorium with two smaller auditoriums, one seating 200 and another seating 250. There would also be a sculpture training centre, a library-cum-research centre and a 4,000 sq-ft banquet hall. A restaurant, a food court and shops selling items from Santiniketan would come up too.

Work is scheduled to start from June and is expected to take two years to finish. It will be built by the civic body at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

Nazrul Tirtha Complex

The cultural complex in New Town dedicated to Kazi Nazrul Islam is scheduled to open on July 25 this year. Nazrul Tirtha is situated on the Major Arterial Road near DLF Building, and is spread over 120 cottahs. It will be an educational and research centre on the poet and would have a 400-seater auditorium, a seminar hall, digital archive, boardroom, exhibition hall, museum, audio room, guest rooms, cafeteria, library and research space. The project is being funded by Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation and will cost Rs 59 crore.

Cricket field

Work is on to build a cricket ground near City Centre II and it should open by December. The field would measure 138m x 80m and can be booked to host matches. The gallery would seat 200 people and a giant scoreboard would be installed to help spectators follow the action. The project would cost Rs 2 crore and the bill is being footed by NKDA.

The market building in Action Area 1B. (Mayukh Sengupta)

LOCAL MARKET FOR NEW TOWN

New Town will get its first local market by the end of the month. A two-storeyed complex has come up in Action Area 1B, near Pride Hotel and like Salt Lake’s block markets, will have vendors selling vegetables, fruits, fish, flowers and other perishable goods on the ground floor. The first floor would house medicine shops, confectioneries, stationery goods, ration shops, tailors etc.

The market has cost Rs 1.5 crore to build. Two more such markets will come up in Action Area IA, close to Utsa Housing Complex, and another in Action Area 1C, near Balaka Abasan soon.

drainage in new town

Once the new drainage pumping station starts operating in New Town’s Jatragachhi area, residents will no longer face inundation during the monsoons, officials say. The station in Action Area 1 would have four pumps to force out the area’s storm water to Bagjola Canal. They can pump out nine cubic meter of water per second. The station is scheduled to be ready by March.

ECO-FRIENDLY LIGHTING

Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) is on the verge of installing eco-friendly LED street lights on main roads and bylanes of New Town. The first of these lights have got installed on Street no. 787, near Biswa Banga Haat at one end of Eco Tourism Park.

STREETS UNDER CCTV VIGIL

The roads of Salt Lake’s AB, AC and AD blocks, that comprise Ward 9, will be under electronic vigil once eight CCTV cameras get installed at their entry and exit points. The cameras will be able to capture images all day and night. The project is an initiative of the ward committee and will be maintained by a private company. It cost around Rs 5 lakh and will be functional soon.

WEBSITE FOR WARD 9

Come Poila Baisakh and Ward 9, comprising AB, AC and AD blocks, will get its own website. The site will have details of development work in the ward, related costs, census information etc. Residents would also be able to lodge online complaints and suggestions.

MORE HOTELS IN NEW TOWN

Holiday Inn, a chain of five-star hotels under the InterContinental Hotels Group, will open near City Centre 2 around November this year. The hotel (graphic impression below) will have 150 rooms, including four deluxe suits, two restaurants and two floors to host banquets. The total area will be 1lakh sq-ft. The hotel is coming up through a tie-up between city-based real estate company Jain Group and InterContinental Hotels Group and will cost approximately Rs 115 crore. Also coming up is the Accor group property, Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residence. The 346-room hotel will be the city’s biggest hotel and will be located on the Rajarhat Expressway. It is scheduled to open by March-April.

Which development are you most looking forward to?
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