Turning 20 for a community newspaper, covering the two townships, New Town and Salt Lake — the first of which got peopled over the last two decades and the second gained its unique identity —means being there for every major development that took place in the corridors of power, at the infrastructural level as well as in every block and bylane.

Lakeland calling

In Salt Lake, we have witnessed the transition from a frontierland that no taxi driver would agree to travel to after 7pm to a tech hub which never sleeps, from being a cluster of thanas under the state police to becoming a commissionerate in 2012, from a municipality to a municipal corporation in 2015, from a clutch of homely small-timers in the Durga puja scales to featuring on every pandal-hopper’s list…

Going shopping 20 years ago meant an expedition to Gariahat or Hatibagan and every non-municipal public service requirement took us to “the city”. Now we have bustling malls and showrooms. Our Central Park is the location to put on Google Map to reach most departments of the state administration. Why, even the Book Fair has permanently checked into our fairgrounds since 2017, turning the township to a must-visit cultural hotspot for a fortnight, drawing all of book-loving Calcutta and beyond.

New horizon

In New Town, the transition has been starker. Twenty years ago, it was largely open fields without tree cover, under-construction structures and stray buildings on both sides of the Major Arterial Road that pierced through state-acquired agricultural fields. Now it is a smart city that boasts underground cables and gas pipelines, EV charging stations, solar-powered lights, a biogas plant that converts organic waste to electric power, a road that uses shredded plastic waste in the bitumen mix... It has both work and play destinations — the biggest convention centre in eastern India, an ecological park that consistently draws the highest footfall among all the city tourist spots on holidays, concert venues, a club, star hotels and new-age museums. With major IT players coming in, it is complementing Sector V.

With a spurt in population, luxe housing projects have come up, with more in the pipeline. Once the Metro Rail connectivity is in place, Calcutta, that is already looking east, will be moving east as well.

Step by step

Born on August 12, 2005, The Telegraph Salt Lake has not only witnessed every start and been at every bend, but we have also celebrated individual successes with you — Board results, ranks in competitive exams, sporting glory and prestigious projects. We have also encouraged day-to-day social and cultural activities and encouraged your hobbies and creativity through our columns. We have shared your concerns with the authorities and sought redress.

For two decades, Fridays have brought you up to speed about your neighbourhood news, with trusted, accountable, on-ground reportage that clears the cobwebs of the social media clutter of rumour and propaganda.

As we enter our 21st year, we pledge to continue to do all that and more, week in week out.