Calcutta, May 18: High-flying rhetoric, but silent on flyovers.
The Left Front’s 16-page manifesto for the June 19 civic polls traces Calcutta’s journey through history, from the time of exiled Nawab Wajed Ali Shah to incumbent mayor Subrata Mukherjee. There is not a word on how it intends to develop the infrastructure.
“It will be wrong to assume the manifesto will contain all details,” said Left Front chairman Biman Bose.
“It is a statement of intent, not a final report,” he added after releasing the manifesto.
Mukherjee is a step ahead of the Left. Having tied up with the Congress, he has not released a manifesto yet, but has made known his plan for two flyovers.
“I had got the mayoral council to clear the two flyover proposals. These flyovers will be extensions of the Park Street and Gariahat flyovers at a cost of about Rs 100 crore. We will start work if we are back in office,” Mukherjee said.
The Left’s 27-point programme talks about two large infrastructure projects ? now in the realm of “distant possibility” ? the East-West Metro and a North-South elevated rail corridor.
These are to be built with funds from the state government, the Centre and foreign agencies and are not municipality projects.
For the civic body itself, there are only general statements. “The Leftists, if voted to power, will strengthen the city’s infrastructure and roads,” said Bose.
He, however, explained that building flyovers was the government’s job. “All the existing ones have been built by the government with Japanese funds. A few more are planned.”
The manifesto promises to widen roads, improve slums, green Calcutta and upgrade the garbage disposal system. It does not say which roads, which slums and how.
“We have drawn up the programme in tune with the look-east policy of the Centre. If we win, we will concentrate on creating revenue streams,” said Bose.
Bikash Bhattacharya, the Left’s nominee for mayor, added that infrastructure would improve also because of the initiatives taken by the government.
Mukherjee claimed that during his tenure roads were widened, a string of bridges built and a dozen pumping stations installed in Calcutta. “We spent a few hundred crores.”
Bhattacharya argued: Subratababu could not have done many of the things he is boasting of if he had not got support (of the government).”