The clean wall of a house on the road leading to the residence of the state sports minister and CPM leader, Subhas Chakraborty, in Salt Lake’s FD Block (picture by Amit Datta); (below) the wall of a house in Ballygunge defaced by CPM graffiti

The dread of defacement may be giving houseowners in Calcutta sleepless nights, but the Salt Lake householder can afford to snore through the whole graffiti battle.

The township promises to remain an island of clean walls in an ocean of wall graffiti flooding the rest of the city in the run-up to the general elections.

So what gives the Salt Lake walls — 89 blocks of them — immunity from a malaise that afflicts the city? Bidhannagar Municipality chairman Biswajiban Majumdar, a resident of the township since 1989, says: “We want the township to remain pretty. There is no culture of writing on walls. This is a sophisticated place.”

As opposed to the rest of Calcutta that is barbarian, right? The arch graffiti rivals come up with different reasons to explain their no-defacement norm in Salt Lake. “The walls are beautifully painted in the planned areas of the township,” says Sabyasachi Dutta, the president of the Trinamul Congress’s Bidhannagar Town unit.

“If we approach them for permission, the residents would refuse us. Even if they do give permission, fear would be the sole reason. This would create a wrong impression about our party’s image and we could lose their votes,” adds Dutta.

The CPM, which controls the local municipality, is also clear about its clean-wall policy, but for slightly different reasons.

Soumen Chakraborty, the secretary of the party’s local committee in charge of parts of Sector I and II, says: “The walls here are too small; we need long walls to write on. In many houses, the walls have designs on them; some have grilles too. Not too many people step inside the blocks so we would not be able to reach a large audience. Also, we must abide by the rules and do nothing without the permission of the people.”

So if the Trinamul propagandist in Salt Lake is a rare aesthete whose heart bleeds for houseowners with clean walls, the CPM cadre in Salt Lake is an astonishingly law-abiding and compassionate soul. Graffiti in the township is therefore replaced by banners, posters, handbills, leaflets and even greeting cards.

That the political parties in Salt Lake walk their no-defacement talk is confirmed by Sujoy Chanda, the additional superintendent of police, Bidhannagar sub-division. “I cannot recollect any complaint or conflict over graffiti. There is no practice of wall-writing in Salt Lake,” he stresses.

The lesson to be learnt? The fear of popular backlash and loss of brownie points can chasten the most dreaded of paintbrush gangs.

The don’t-you-dare-touch-our walls mood infects both block associations and co-operative housing estates. “Our walls got a fresh coat of paint just three months back. We will protest if anybody comes to deface our walls,” warn residents of Shyamoli Abasan, a co-operative housing estate.

Unity fostered through common activities and festivities round-the-year is evident in the Bidhannagar Salt Lake Welfare Association. Basab Aich of the association says: “We do not want graffiti. The practice interferes with our constitutional right to property.” Aich’s neighbour and the president of BE Block Nagarik Sangha Amal Sarkar adds that the “entire block will protest” if there is any attempt to deface even a single wall.

That is what the chief electoral officer, Debashis Sen, had meant when he told Metro last week that the “common man” could “stand firm and united to safeguard his rights” and stop walls from being defaced.

The power to the people in Salt Lake, admit some residents, can in part be traced to the VIP factor. “The ministers in the neighbourhood are part of every Block activity here and so it would be embarrassing for them not to support the anti-graffiti stand taken by fellow-residents. So, there is VIP immunity for walls here,” says a resident of FE Block, where finance minister Asim Dasgupta lives.

So what does Calcutta need to do today to achieve what Salt Lake did yesterday? Take pride in its walls, stand up to the graffiti gang — and find a few VIP neighbours.

Will Salt Lake be the role model for Calcutta in the wall graffiti war? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com