These ar the few of my favourite dreams

Clean Roads

Govind Das Dujari,
Diamond Harbour Road

This year, I want Calcutta roads and pavements to be as neat and clean as my bedroom. That would require a lot of civil awareness and sense of duty among the people and their elected representatives. If this dream comes true, all other problems that the city is facing would vanish automatically.

Govinda Bakshi,
Budge Budge

Calcutta streets and footpaths need repair and overhauling on a war footing. Otherwise the city will remain a princess with pockmarks.

Biswajyoti Bagchi,
Alipore

Improvement of the condition of city roads will top my wishlist for the year. The municipal corporation and the government should stop passing the buck and take affirmative action. Unless they do so, we will have to continue hanging our heads in shame before visitors from outside. The VVIPs need to be forced to use the ?non-VIP roads? to make them aware of how bad the situation is.

P. Pramanik,
Santoshpur Avenue

To make cleaner Calcutta a reality, the roads and lanes have to be repaired and the footpaths have to cleared of hawkers.

K.B. Goswami,
Central Park

I want a clean Calcutta in 2005 with no garbage or litter on the roads. Stringent action should be taken against people who do not throw garbage in vats and spit and urinate on roads. If necessary, they should be jailed to root out the practice. A clean city will not only be more healthy, but will also satisfy residents, tourists and even investors. It will be a step towards taking Calcutta to international standards.

Joydeep Chatterjee,
Shyambazar

I long for a spotless Calcutta this year. Pollution and dirt have a corrupting influence on people. I am sure the corruption level in the society is going to come down if the town becomes a cleaner place to live in.

Metro till Barasat

Prasanta Kumar Ghosh,
Barasat

I want Metro railway to extend its operations to Barasat in 2005. People living in Barasat have to commute to Calcutta for various reasons. They will benefit immensely if they could take the Metro to the city.

Away with pathholes

Sushma Jalan,
Alipore

Last year gave us flyovers, foodstops, multiplexes and malls, but along with more dirt, pollution and potholes. What use are flyovers and multiplexes if the roads leading to them are unusable? I wish for a Calcutta without potholes and garbage vats on the roads. Such a Calcutta would be on a par with international cities.

Rabindra Lal Nandi,
VIP Road

My top-most priority is roads. Roads should be without potholes and be widened where possible. Some roads have already been widened. Road repairs should only be done during night. If mines and factories can run in three shifts then why not road repairs? Last but not the least, pavements should be utilised only by pedestrians.

Debasree Mukherjee,
Salt Lake

Pothole-free city roads, where the pedestrians can walk safely and the drivers can drive bravely, are what I wish for in 2005. Roads without potholes would go a long way in reducing the number of deaths and injuries due to accidents in Calcutta.

Jyoti Bakshi,
Heysham Row

All that I crave for is a ride down smooth roads.

Healthcare

Sayahna Bhattacharya,
Salt Lake

Innumerable slimming centres and health clinics are not the substitutes of quality hospitals. And that is why people from the city head to the South for treatment. In 2005, we need the government and private organisations to start projects to provide quality healthcare to the people of Calcutta at a reasonable cost.

Equality

Gayatri Chak-raborty,
Sodepur

I would love to see the distinction between the haves and have-nots vanish like a bubble in water. While my dream might seem absurd, we can make it a reality by putting in a little effort instead of just blaming the government. If all of us can join hands and embark on this noble venture, then 2005 will become a landmark in the history of humankind.

Skybus

S.S. Almal,
Address not given

Skybuses with air-conditioned coaches should replace trams at key areas. As it plies above ground, it is fast and accident-free.

Peace

Dinabandhu Mukherjee,
Behala

I would like to see 2005 as a year of peace. I want Calcutta be blessed with a peaceful atmosphere. Without peace, we cannot think of happiness. There should not be any violence, political or communal. Everyone should be able to move about freely, without any fear.

Helpful citizens

Arunava Bose Chowdhury,
Barrackpore

Calcuttans were once known to be sensitive and helpful. But gradually they seem to be losing these qualities. One only needs to take a look at the number of parties organised to celebrate New Year despite the tsunami disaster to realise how heartless we have become. However, I do believe that we can turn a new leaf.

Canal cruise

Debashis Pathak,
Beleghata

Beleghata canal must be renovated to provide us traffic jam-free water transportation.

Industries

Anandadip Chowdhury,
Baguiati

I want more industrialists to visit Calcutta and invest huge amounts of money, thus creating a lot of job opportunities. I also want the government to put in more effort to rejuvenate the struggling companies. This would go a long way in solving the unemployment problem and help the city emerge as an industrial powerhouse.

Public urinals

Kajal Chatterjee,
Sodepur

Isn't it ironical that the city boasts of multiplexes and flyovers but does not have an adequate number of public urinals and toilets? Due to paucity of public urinals, individuals are forced to relieve themselves in the open, thus causing many problems. If the government or the civic body constructs public urinals throughout the city, the general hygiene would improve to a considerable extent.

More greenery

Reena Mukherjee,
South Sinthee Road

The Russian abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky once said that colours influence our soul. So this year, instead of building more concrete structures let us have green ? as much of it as possible. It will have both a calming and stimulating effect on our lives. We need to plant millions of trees on our roads. Greenery counteracts headaches, disturbances of vision and loss of concentration.

Work culture

DebaPrasad Bhattacharya,
Sonarpur

Work culture is almost totally absent in the city, leading to a flight of jobs. So people are forced to leave Calcutta in search of livelihood. The city desperately needs to improve in this sphere. I often find Calcuttans shy of trying out new things. That should not be the case. I feel they should be eager to explore new prospects because that is the only certain road to progress.

Indranil Sengupta,
Salt Lake

I want Calcutta to be blessed with is better work culture and opportunities. It is needless to mention that proper work culture is absolutely missing here compared to other cities of our country. Similarly, work opportunities are also far beyond expectations in our city. We really need to address this area so that we can catch up on this issue with other cities.