Conservation of Kolkata’s heritage – KMC’s achievements

Kolkata Municipal Corporation led by Trinamool Congress is committed towards conservation and maintenance of Kolkata’s heritage.

With this goal in mind, the Corporation under several initiatives like acquiring the residence of Sister Nivedita or rejuvenation of Sarat Sadan.

 

Conservation and rejuvenation of Kolkata’s heritage

  • Kolkata Municipal Corporation has acquired the residence of Sister Nivedita which has been handed over to Ramakrishna Mission for proper care and maintenance
  • The house adjacent to Swami Vivekanada’s house has been acquired for the same reason

 Conservation of theatres

  • Rejuvenation and modernisation of Mohit Mancha, Star Theatre and Sarat Sadan have been completed
  • Kolkata Municipal Corporation has acquired Uttam Mancha which has also been modernised

KMC Election 2015: Trinamool reaches out to people on Facebook

Trinamool Congress believes in 360 degrees of communication. Even for the upcoming municipal elections, the party is using the digital medium for the KMC Election 2015 campaigning. Candidates as well as supporters have taken up Facebook as one of the mediums to connect with people.

Various Facebook groups, pages and profiles of the candidates and the supporters are engaged in disseminating campaign-related information as well as reaching out to the voters online.

The updates on these pages are easily accessible through handheld mobile devices, thus enabling candidates to connect with voters easily.

 

Ward No 90 candidate: Baiswanor Chattopadhyay

 

Baiswanor-Chattopadhyay-profile

Profile of Baiswanor Chattopadhyay

 

Campaign is led through his own profile: Baiswanor Chattopadhyay, as well as the profile of Trinamool Congress – 90 no. Ward KMC Election Reigning Fighters.

 

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Campaign page for Baiswanor Chattopadhyay

 

Ward No 81 candidate: Jui Biswas

Updates of upcoming programmes and earlier campaigns are available on Jui Biswas’ profile.

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Jui Biswas’s Facebook page

 

Ward No 110 candidate: Arup Chakraborty

An ardent believer of social media and also a frontrunner in campaigning through social media, Arup Chakraborty’s profile not only posts about his campaign but also shares information about qchievement stories of Trinamool:

 

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The FB page of Arup Chakraborty

 

Ward No 68 candidate: Sudarshana Mukherjee

The FB page 68 ward candidate Sudarshana Mukherjee has made quite a mark in the virtual world. From sharing campaign stories to focussing on the issues of Ward No. 68, Sudarshana Mukherjee has done a great job.

Sudarshana Mukherjee FB

FB page of Sudarshana Mukherjee

 

Ward No 96 candidate: Malay (Debabrata) Majumdar

An active campaign through social network is being led through the group 96 no ward Trinomul Congress providing pictures and details of the campaign in this ward.

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A glimpse of the FB Page

 

Ward No 22 candidate: Dinesh Bajaj

The profile of Dinesh Bajaj provides pictures and information of the municipal campaign in Barabazar area in details.

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Dinesh Bajaj’s FB activity

 

Supporters’ Groups

Trinamool Congress Supporters Community has been active on social media for almost a decade. A team of dedicated supporters have been relentlessly carrying out campaigns for spreading the message of development done by Trinamool Congress. This group has been tirelessly campaigning for the KMC Election 2015.

 

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TMCS page on Facebook

 

Trinamool Congress Supporters ™® has been campaigning for the party in social networking sites for a long time. KMC Election 2015 has been a high point for this group.

AITC-supporters

Flurry of activity on Facebook

 

Kolkata roads: A matter of pride for citizens

KMC made a commitment to provide the citizens of Kolkata with smoother roads. This promised has been fulfilled. Uneven roads and open craters on roads which remained unrepaired for days, now are tread upon effortlessly. There are around 4500 kilometres of roads combining the small and big ones.

During the last five years, almost all the roads in the city have been covered with mastic asphalt and black tar. This has resulted in increasing the speed of the vehicles and has reduced accidents.

There is very little scope to construct new roads in the city. In spite of that, two pilot projects have been taken up ­ – construction of Ultadanga underpass and Kolkata Road project. This has been done despite many difficulties.

Three of the centrally located and the busiest roads in Kolkata ­ the Park Circus Connector in east Kolkata, Rubi Connector and Anwar Shah Connector ­ were in a ruinous state. These roads have been handed over to Kolkata Municipal Corporation by the KMDA.

For the convenience of the citizens, roads have been made wider by narrowing the footpaths at places like Camac Street, Suhrawardy Lane, Park Circus. Roads at Joka and adjoining areas are now at par with roads of the rest of the city, thanks to the special initiatives of the Roads and Asphaltum Department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

For the first time in north Kolkata, ritzier milling machines have been used to renovate roads, thus providing better movement. Now, the roads of Kolkata are at par with the beautification drive of the city. They are a matter of pride to the citizens. Gone are the days of earthen roads or uneven roads. Beautiful and well built roads have resulted in even movements. Decorating dividers on major roads by planting shrubs has been an initiative to make the city green and beautiful.

Despite torrential rain, huge turnout at Trinamool’s Tala Park rally

Trinamool Youth Congress organized a huge mass rally at Tala Park Minibus Stand on 7 April, 2015 in support of the Trinamool candidates of the Kolkata Municipal Election 2015 in Borough I.

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Hoarding for the campaign rally near Tala Park

The chief speaker of the rally was Trinamool Youth Congress President and MP Abhishek Banerjee.

AB Tala parkGates near the rally site

Present at the rally were Trinamool candidate for Ward No 1, Sita Jeswara, candidate for Ward No 2, Puspali Sinha, candidate for Ward No 3, Dr Santanu Sen, candidate for Ward No 4, Goutam Haldar, candidate for Ward No 5, Tarun Saha and candidate for Ward No 6, Suman Singh.

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The rally starts …

In spite of torrential downpour, the rally was a huge success with inspiring speeches by Dr Santanu Sen, the local MLA Mala Saha and Trinamool Chhatra Parishad President Ashok Rudra.

 

AB Tala parkCrowds gather withstanding rain to listen to their favourite leader

Trinamool Youth Congress President Abhishek Banerjee took the stage at around 7 PM withstanding the gutsy wind, torrential rain and thunder. In his brief speech he said that the opposition will be losers by huge margins. He said that another rally will be organized on 9 April at 4 PM at the same venue.

AB Tala parkTrinamool Youth Congress President Abhishek Banerjee speaking at the rally

Municipal Elections 2015 – Trinamool’s 360 degrees of communication

Trinamool Congress believes in 360-degree campaigning for any election, instead of relying on any particular mode of communication. For the upcoming municipal elections, the party has been reaching out to the people using all forms of campaign methods – right from the traditional wall graffiti to connecting with voters online.

 

Door-to-door campaign

Candidates in all 144 wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and in every municipality of the State are travelling door to door to reach out to people.

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A candidate in Kolkata talking to people

 

Road Shows

AITC MPs and MLAs are participating in campaigning along with candidates of the locality through road shows.

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Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Nayana Bandyopadhyay at a road show

Road Show

Innovative road show by a candidate

 

Padayatra

Padayatras are being taken out covering localities to convey the party’s message to the people.

Gautam Deb at Siliguri

A padayatra in Siliguri being attended by Gautam Deb

 

Street Corner Meetings

The candidates along with national level leaders from the party are holding street corner meetings to spread the message of development.

Street corner meeting

Chief Whip in WB Assembly, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay at a street corner meeting in South Kolkata

 

Wall Graffiti

Wall Graffiti with the names of the candidates are displayed prominently in various wards after taking permission of the owner of the houses.

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Wall graphitti in Behala

 

Banners and hoardings

Banners highlighting the achievements of KMC and other municipalities are displayed throughout the cities and towns.

KMC Banner

A banner in north Kolkata

 

Manifesto and Pamphlets

Manifesto and pamphlets outlining achievements of KMC and other municipal boards are being distributed by the candidates themselves during door to door campaigning.

AITC Manifesto Front Cover

The Manifetso of the party

 

Digital Media

AITC has a strong presence in digital media. The party is using all mediums available online to spread the message of development and connect with voters.

social media campaign

KMC uses modern disposal system to make the city vat free

In 2010 when Trinamool Congress came to power in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the biggest challenge that the new administration faced was to how to make the city garbage free.

The sight of open vats overflowing with garbage, animal infested garbage dumps and open wagons carrying garbage were common. Under the leadership of Ms Mamata Banerjee, the first task that the corporation undertook was to make Kolkata garbage vat free. Now the city has 49 new state­-of-­the­-art compactor stations. These state-of-the-art compactor stations are being appreciated countrywide and Kolkata is now seen as a pioneer.

Over and above these compactor stations, the city also has 33 new ‘mobile compactors’ which travel from one area to another clearing waste due to which Kolkata is on the path to become garbage vat free.

Prior to 2010, garbage clearance was done only once in the morning. The present Government has deployed over 8000 workers under Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana to clean the city again in the afternoon. In Kolkata’s industrial hubs the task is once again undertaken in the evening. The city which was once compared to a garbage dump is now one of India’s cleanest cities.

The busiest streets of the city are washed every morning and the street curbs are cleaned with help of mechanical sweepers. The old hand pulled two wheeler carts which were used to carry garbage are now being replaced with eco-friendly, battery operated three wheelers. In the near future this system will cover all of Kolkata.

Covered compactor wagons are being used to transport the garbage to Dhapa. As Dhapa has now been declared as an international wetland, no developmental work or construction will take place in that area. The state government has allotted 20 acres of land to the KMC, to be used as a dumping ground for the city’s garbage. The waste materials will now also be used to generate electricity through ‘Waste Energy Project’, Price Water House Coopers Ltd as its consultants and global tenders have been sought. With the use of modern technology in its various departments, KMC is now doing its work more efficiently and with greater speed.

The forthcoming projects are:

1)  A bio­remediation project of CBIPM with grants from World Bank

2) In 137 wards, centres to separate the recyclable items like plastic, paper, etc. from biodegradable wastes are being set up. It is already operational in seven wards.

3) Minimisation of the number of open vats and direct collection of waste are being stressed upon

Developments in Kolkata by KMC in synergy with State Government

Keeping pace with the tide of development ushered by the State Government, Kolkata Municipal Corporation has also been engaged in development of the city. During the last five years, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has created history through its planning and execution of work.

Below are a few significant developments:

Health insurance:

Health insurance for residents of Kolkata belonging to BPL category has been rolled out. This scheme is a first of its kind in India and a model for all to emulate. Health security for the poor is one of the key responsibilities of KMC.

Under this scheme, during the year 2013-14, nearly 4 lakh people received Health Insurance Cards. Under the National Family Security Scheme, 3,399 families have benefited during 2013-14. At present, the amount allocated is Rs 40,000 per family.

Pension scheme:

The number of beneficiaries under the Indira Gandhi National Pension Scheme is more than 13 thousand. More than 27 thousand people have received assistance under the National Old Age Pension Scheme.

Employment and training:

Under the scheme Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, 40,000 people have been trained since 2010. Modern courses like computer training, driving training, television repairing, and beautician courses have been introduced. Post training, tool kits have been distributed to around 8,000 people. 1,000 poor people in every ward have benefited from this employment and training scheme. Nearly, 1.5 lakh people have been receiving benefits of this employment scheme.

Night shelters:

For the first time, ‘night shelters’ have been set up for those without homes and clothes have been distributed during the festive season of Eid and Durga Puja.

Parks in Kolkata get a new look, courtesy KMC

This is the first time that any Chief Minister has thought about a green Kolkata, a beautiful Kolkata. As a result of the special interest shown by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, beautification of parks and gardens have got equal importance as any other work, like drainage, garbage clearance, roads and street lighting.

The construction and maintenance of squares, roadside gardens and median strips, and the riverfront beautification of Ganga – these comprise the biggest contributions of KMC to the city.

In 2010, Mamata Banerjee conceived the idea of Ganga Riverfront beautification. As a result, the 5 km stretch along the banks of river Ganga has been beautified, and barges, cranes and payloaders are now used during immersions of idols. For trimming trees, each Borough has been allotted a hydraulic ladder.

CCTV cameras have been installed at Elliot Park on a pilot basis for the security of the park visitors as well as for the proper maintenance of the park. 3000 CCTV cameras are going to be set up in the 144 wards across Kolkata.

Another major initiative has been the use of solar energy to light up street lamps in Deshapriya Park. This is a first in Kolkata which would reduce the usage of electricity and would also lead to reduction in carbon emission in the atmosphere.

The Goalz Project, a joint venture amongst the British Council, Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation, is running football training centres in Kolkata. A swimming pool of international standards and a sports training centre has been constructed at Deshbandhu Park. The work of the Department of Parks and Squares, Kolkata Municipal Corporation has made the citizens proud of their city.

KMC Election 2015 Campaign: Borough XIII and XIV

Members of AITC Digital Desk took a sneak peek at the campaigns for the Kolkata Municipal Election, 2015, by All Indian Trinamool Congress at Ward No.s 119, 120, 131 and 132 in Behala. Enthusiasm derived from massive developmental works have been a driving force of the campaign here, we found out.

Ward No: 119 –
AITC candidate Asoka Mondal

The Ward lies bounded by the south of New Alipore Block-K in the north, Roy Bahadur and AC. Roy Road in the south, Joy Krishna Paul Road, Sahapur Main Road and Barikpara Road in the east and Diamond Harbour Road in the west.

Ashoka Mondal is a household name in the Ward No 119. We found her planning for the next move in her office in Ward No 119. A councilor for many times, Ashokadi is well aware of each corner of her ward.

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Asoka Mondal at campaign office in Ward No 119

Numerous graffiti and AITC flags boast support to the hardworking councilor at every step.

Door-to-door campaign is almost finished, said Ashokadi and the response had been overwhelming. The past five years have been busy as there were loads of developmental works to be done.

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Renovated Health Unit of Ward No 119

Ward No 119 has seen new health centres under KMC planned, public toilets built, the inner streets and the drinking water supply revamped and each locality cleaned daily. Health and sanitation has been give priority here in this ward.

Ward No: 120 –
AITC candidate Susanta Ghosh

The Ward lies bounded by the Roy Bahadur A.C. Roy Road in the north, Bhupen Roy Road in the south, Bamacharan Roy Road in the east and Diamond Harbour Road in the west.

Sushanta Ghosh, the AITC candidate was in a jovial mood, chatting with the party activists in the office of the Ward No 120 at Roy Bahadur Road. Door-to-door campaign has been completed a week ago, now we are holding street corner meetings and may hold a big procession. The people know their councilor and are well aware that he is always available in their thick and thin, that is the image of Sushantada in Ward No 120.

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Sushanta Ghosh at his campaign office in Ward No 120

Ward No 120 has seen huge developmental works under Sushantada. Cleanliness and sanity has been a prime issue. Even the auto stands in the areas now have latrines for their usage. Parks are well maintained.

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Campaign banner of Sushanta Ghosh in Ward No 119

There was a demand from the locals people to maintain the elevation of the roads, said Sushantada. After repeated patchworks, the level of the road at many places, had risen above the level of some houses. To solve this, certain roads were fully dug and relayed during the last five years, Sushantada said.

Ward No: 131 –
AITC candidate Sovan Chatterjee

The Ward lies bounded by Upendranath Banerjee Road and Bonomali Naskar Road in the north, Jingira Khal, Pallishri, Maharani Indiradebi Road and Netaji Subhas Road in the south, Diamond Harbour Road and Kshudiram Bose Sarani in the east and Jingira Khal in the west.

Sovan Chatterjee’s office at Parnashree was crowded. The mayoral candidate has led a huge procession early in the morning and the turnout had been huge. That was the main point of discussion there.

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Graffiti of Sovan Chatterjee in Ward No 131

Throughout the last five years, development work has been done in all the wards under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Sovan da said. From ward number 1 to 144, a lot of work has been happening in every department including roads, lighting, parks, health, drainage and drinking water. Therefore, there is no need to take preparations for the elections separately. Work has been done for the common man and they will vote in favour of us, told a confidant Sovan da.

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Campaign car with AITC symbol in Ward 131

The area around Parnashree now has an aura of pride that evolves from the numerous developmental works.

Ward No: 132 –

AITC candidate Sanchita Mitra

The Ward lies bounded by the Canal in the north, Upendranath Banerjee Road, Bonomali Naskar Road in the south, Diamond Harbour Road in the east and the junction of Upendranath Banerjee Road and the Canal in the west.

Ward No 132 houses the two most important landmarks of the Parnashree Palli – the Parnashree Bus Stand and the Parnashree Lake.  Under KMC, the bust stand has been renovated and modernized providing great utility the commuters.

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Graffiti of Sanchita Mitra in Ward No 132

The Parnashree Lake, which used to be an ill-maintained water body, is now a matter of pride to the locals. Beautifully decorated, guarded and lit up, the Lake adds a feather to the beautification works made by KMC. Water supply has also been revamped in the area besides cleaning the neighborhood twice a day.

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Renovated Parnashree Lake, Behala

KMC leads in development of minorities

If the performance of the 193 odd municipal corporations in India is compared with respect to the welfare of minorities, Kolkata Municipal Corporation will undoubtedly be the best among all.

Several initiatives have been taken up for the people belonging to minority communities residing in Kolkata. A lot of progress has been made in different sectors like education, health, employment and infrastructure.

In the last five years, 23 Urdu medium schools, 26 ward health units, 55 new anganwadi centres have been set up. 86 deep tube wells have been constructed. 33 organisations belonging to minority communities have been supplied with computers, printers and scanners.

Under the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, 40,000 people have been trained since 2010. Twenty five per cent of the trainees belonged to the minority communities.

All the Muslim and Christian burial grounds, which were lying neglected for several years, have been renovated and developed.