The newly elected mayor of Howrah has his task cut out. With Rs 100 crore in his kitty, he has to change the face of Howrah and that too in three months. Not an enviable position, given the enormity of the task. For Howrah had been left in the dumps by the erstwhile Left-ruled HMC board for the past three decades and the town is plagued with dozens of problems. “The chief minister herself has taken a keen interest in the development of Howrah town. She has set a three months deadline for immediate implementation of some short term development projects within this period,” said Chakrabarty.

He explained that a large number of short term and long term development projects have been taken up for changing the face of Howrah that included repairing roads, installing trident lights on streets, desilting clogged drains, preserving ponds and waterbodies, pressing into service compactors in Belgachhiea trenching ground, timely clearance of garbage and many others. “Repairing roads is our first priority. Most of the roads are covered with craters and potholes. We have identified 48 roads for renovation,” said the mayor.

There are some areas in Howrah where traffic jams are a perennial affair. In some places, the roads are too narrow for the volume of traffic they handle and in some areas railway crossings stall the movement of vehicles. “To solve these problems we have decided to build three flyovers at Salkia Chourasta More, near Kamardanga railway crossing and Ramrajatala crossing – for uninterrupted movement of people and vehicles. But these are long term projects. It will take time to implement them,” he said.

To demarcate the borders of Howrah, arches will be built at the entry points of Howrah municipal area. Nine arches will be built in different places of north Howrah, south Howrah, Bally, Kona Expressway and of course near Howrah station. “Till date people outside Howrah fail to guess where Howrah begins in the absence of any sign board or arch indicating the areas. We have decided to build nine arches at different exit and entry points of Howrah municipal area,” mayor said.

Revival of corporation schools is another initiative, a brainchild of the mayor. Most of such school buildings are in bad shape. The schools are without electricity, running water or separate toilets for girls. There are a total of 25 corporation-run schools in Howrah town – 17 Bengali medium, five Hindi medium and three Urdu medium. Except Hindi and Urdu medium schools, all the 17 Bengali medium schools have been closed for want of students. Almost all the corporation school teachers have retired long back and no new recruitment has been made for the last two decades. The new mayor wants to use these closed municipal schools for productive purposes.

“Schools not only impart formal education. We could turn these shut corporation schools into art and craft schools, technical education schools or schools for the physically handicapped. We shall use the school buildings for some productive purposes,” said Chakraborty.

Turning Sarat Sadan into a Nandan of Howrah is another big dream. Sarat Sadan was built in 1990 during the tenure of former HMC mayor Swadesh Chakraborty. Gradually Sarat Sadan has turned into a cultural centre for the residents of Howrah. However, in the last six months, the bookings of the halls had to be cancelled as CESC snapped electricity connections for HMC’s failure to pay electricity bill. Immediately after taking oath, mayor Chakraborty took up the issue with chief minister Mamata Banerjee and state urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who sanctioned money for repaying the electricity bill. “We shall build Sarat Sadan at par with Nandan in Calcutta. But this is a long term project. I have already cancelled the old committee that ran the affairs of Sarat Sadan. A new committee will soon be formed in which personalities from cultural field will be accommodated,” said the mayor. He, however, refused to reveal the details of the project saying, “It is a long term project. Details will be declared later.”

Apart from beautifying the roads with trident lights, as a short term measure, the lanes and by-lanes will also be electrified by installing lamp posts. The parks, ponds and waterbodies are also on the list of development. They will not only be renovated but also be properly electrified as part of the beautification project. “We also want to beautify Santragachhi Pakhiralay. Hundreds of people from different places visit this bird sanctuary all over the year. We have decided to beautify the banks of the waterbody,” said the mayor.

The new mayor is cautious about taking any decision on the technological upgradation of Padmapukur Water Works. “We had a meeting with the experts of Jadavpur University. They will study the technological support the water plant needs and recommend us accordingly,” said mayor. However, he said that short term measures would be taken to ensure water supply to the residents of Howrah in the coming summer. And a mini water treatment plant will be set up with help from engineers at Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu).

Roads under repair

1.       Ichhapur Road (wards 23 and 43)

2.       Tantipara Lane (ward 42)

3.       Natabar Pal Road (wards 22 and 9)

4.       Drainage Canal Road from the junction of Kona Expressway to Chatterjee Para.

5.       Cows Ghat Road from Foreshore Road to G. T. Road

6.       Bon Behari Bose Road

7.       Ganga Dhar Mukherjee Road

8.       G. C. R. C Ghat Road

9.       R. N. R. C Ghat Road (Upto Launch Ghat)

10.       Narasingha Dutta Road

11.       Panchanantala Road

12.       Ramil Hazra Lane

13.       Jay Bibi Road

14.       Guha Road

15.       Naskar Para Road

16.       East West Road upto G. T. Road

17.       Madhab Babu Lane

18.       K. D. Jalan Road

19.       Kali Majumdar Road

20.       Dharmatala Road

21.       ‘A’ Road

22.       Dasarath Ghosh Lane

23.       Ramkrishna Mandir Path (part)

24.       ‘V’ Road

25.       Shree Aurobindo Road

26.       ‘W’ Road

27.       Benaras Road (part)

28.       Salkia School Road (part)

29.       Kshetra Mitra Road

30.       Bhairab Dutta Lane

31.       Kishan Lal Burman Road

32.       Kartick Dutta Road and Biplabi Haren Ghosh Road

33.       Chandmari Road (From Andul Road to K7 Bus Stand)

34.       Begum Rakia Sarani (from Thanamakua School to Nazirgunge Satyen Bose Road

35.       C T I Road

36.        Mohiari Road to Muchipara More

37.       H. N. Nag Road

38.       Mullick Para Main Road (from Naba Sakti Club to Howrah Amta Road)

39.       Road from Chandi Vidyapith to Dharsa Shyamal Milan Sahid Bedi

40.       Sundar Para Road

41.       Kashinath Chatterjee Lane and Sadhan Majumdar Lane (near Nabanna)

42.       Shibpur Road – Beltala to Shibpur Bazar (near Nabanna)

43.       Bangal Para 2nd By-Lane