Author: AITC

Howrah police on Tuesday introduced the integrated traffic management system (ITMS) in the presence of Minister Arup Roy and the Howrah City Police Commissioner with a promise of easing traffic flow on the city's highly congested roads.

The 500-year-old city perpetually struggles to cope with 2.5% road space along with rapid unplanned development. After formation of the commissionerate, there has been an effort to bring a method to the madness called Howrah traffic.

As part of the e-traffic management system, the traffic officer will now issue an e-challan against traffic offences. Twenty-five tablets loaded with relevant software were distributed among the traffic officers.

Much of an officer's time is spent only on paper work against a single offence. From now, the traffic officer will only type the relevant portion and choose the option in case of offences. The e-challan can be generated quickly and the officer can devote more time to preventing traffic offences.

An offender can also make e-payment of the fine. The Howrah police have entered into an agreement with SBI. If the offender is ready to pay Rs 30 extra, the seized documents will be couriered to him or her. The tab is connected with the camera; so everything can be monitored from the central traffic control room.

To familiarize people with the new system, the old manual system will initially be continued along with the new e-system. Eventually, 55 major crossings will come under this e-surveillance. It is expected to ease traffic at Howrah station area, Kona Expressway, Foreshore Road, Howrah Maidan area, Salkia and Belur.

The Howrah police will also offer a value-added service for second-hand vehicle buyers. From the police website, a second-hand vehicle buyer can know about all the pending cases against a vehicle by just putting the registration number and chassis number. So, a buyer can decide whether to buy the car.

There will be special drive against illegal parking. To increase road space, on-road parking will be banned and there will be stringent action against illegal parking.
Howrah police will install two more radio frequency identifying devices along with the existing two. These devices record the taxis entering and leaving Howrah station with the exact record of timing. If a taxi driver misbehaves with a passenger or if a passenger leaves luggage behind in a taxi, the passenger can come back to Howrah police to inform the time he or she left Howrah station. The taxi can be identified and necessary measures taken by police.

That the Maa Mati Manush Government is always beside the poor people has once again been proved. The Bonhooghly project, a realty project was undertaken for private gains and was opposed by Ms Mamata Banerjee who was then in the opposition. After becoming the Chief Minister she has now resurrected the project as a Refugee Rehabilitation Initiative for the poor people, on a public-private partnership basis.

'This will be our best refugee rehabilitation initiative, through PPP. The government has earned Rs 22 crore (as upfront payment) from it,' said Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy, who is overseeing the project.

The 17.2-acre site also includes beautification of the waterbody. The decrepit refugee complex, built by the state refugee relief and rehabilitation department in 1960 and declared condemned in the Nineties, has been pulled down and work on the new housing complex is on in full swing.

At the far end of the site, some 120-odd families are living in their temporary homes. Another 420 will join them once the luxury complex takes shape.

Their dream homes, the 644-sq ft flats, packaged with children's parks, swimming pools, landscaped gardens and community halls that they have been promised since 2006 will be completed by 2016-end. The refugees will be rehabilitated in the 34 G+4 buildings covering 5 lakh sq ft.

There are around 746 refugee families who may avail this facility.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee inaugurated several new attractions at the Alipore Zoo, Kolkata today.

The new attractions include an open-air reptile house, an enclosure for 'lesser cats' like fishing cats, wild cats etc. 

The new agricultural policy of the West Bengal Government has proved to be a boon for the farmers of the state. There has been an increase of 40% in the income of paddy farmers in the last three years. Similarly, potato farmers have also been making profit, which amounts to whooping Rs 27 thousand crore in the last three years.

More than 72 lakh farmer families in the state have thus been benefitted in the last three years. If an average family consists of four members, then undoubtedly crores of people in Bengal have benefitted due to the agricultural policy of the state government.

• In 2011-12, the rice farmers earned around Rs 21,900 crore (Rs 2805 crore more than the previous year)

• In 2012-13, the rice farmers earned around Rs 28,800 crore (Rs 6990 crore more than the previous year)

• In 2013-14, the rice farmers earned around Rs 34,366 crore (Rs 5536 crore more than the previous year)

• In three years the total increase of profit has been Rs 27,751 crore.

Profits for farmers have also been increased in similar manner by the cultivation of potatoes, pulses and oil seeds.

Incidentally, the state has been receiving the Krishi Karman Award, given by the Central Government, for the past three years in a row for its exemplary achievements in agricultural sector.

On the occasion of the World Food Day on October 16, the State Government distributed rice to around one lakh families below poverty line. Every district had made a list of around five thousand such families. Every such family was supplied with a 2-kg packet of rice.
 
While marking out the poor people of the state, special attention has been given to those belonging to closed tea gardens, tribal people among others. State Food Minister Mr Jyotipriya Mullick distributed rice at the Dheklapara and Red Bank Tea Estates in North Bengal.

Apart from rice, wheat, pulses and grams were also distributed to five thousand malnourished children and their mothers by the State Food & Supplies Department. This process will be continued for the next six months.

The State Government led by Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee had been distributing rice at Rs 2 per kg to three and half crore poor people of the State.