Trinamool thanks people for peaceful KMC polls

Trinamool thanks people for peaceful KMC polls

Posted on April 18, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

People of Kolkata today came out in large numbers to vote for the Kolkata Municipal Election 2015. Long queues could be observed in front of the polling booths of all the 144 wards.

59.2% polling was recorded till 3 PM; the figure is expected to rise as people were waiting in queues at several polling booths.

Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Youth Congress President Abhishek Bandyopadhyay and Chief National Spokesperson & Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien conducted at a post-poll press conference at Trinamool Bhavan.

Highlights of Partha Chatterjee’s statement:

• The polls today were peaceful, free and fair. We thank the people of Kolkata, we thank the administration for conducting peaceful polls.

• Few sections were trying to spread canards. The long queues at polling stations answered such propaganda.

• People have voted fearlessly. We thank them for that. Our aim is to further speed up the process of development.

• We have witnessed rigging and terror in the past elections. This time they were peaceful. Administration deserves credit.

• The Opposition was banking on a few stray incidents to paint a bad picture. Their hopes have been dashed by peaceful polls.

• The Opposition should work with us for the development of Bengal. But they want to derail Ms Mamata Banerjee’s agenda of progress.

Highlights of Derek O’Brien’s statement:

Thank you Kolkata for voting peacefully. Opposition parties know they are going to lose. So they are suffering from ‘excus-itis’.

Mentored by WB CM, a lot of good work has been done by KMC in the last 5 years. We are confident people will bless us abundantly.

Where is TMC’s opposition - Left parties are gas balloons, BJP plays Draupadi: Sovan Chatterjee

Posted on April 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

We have reproduced an interview of Sovan Chatterjee with The Times of India as published on April 17, 2015

Trinamool Congress leader Sovan Chatterjee has been heading Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) as the city’s mayor since 2010. Chatterjee, who hasn’t lost an election since 1985, faces another civic poll on April 18. Speaking with The Times of India, the mayor discussed Kolkata’s development, allegations of corruption by opposition and why he thinks BJP prefers playing Draupadi over developing political maturity.

Q: Critics often call Kolkata a decrepit city. What’s your view?

Mayor: Well, that used to be the perception about Kolkata once upon a time but no longer.

In the last three to four years, people coming to Kolkata have said the city has changed a lot. It doesn’t look shabby any more. The city is much cleaner, roads are better, streets are well-lit, the riverfront has been developed and looks beautiful. Civic amenities have improved.

When I took over as mayor of Kolkata, my chief Mamata Banerjee said she didn’t want to listen to any excuses about funds or space crunch. In the last five years of our stint, we’ve tried our best to develop the city holistically but Kolkata is a 300-year-old city with problems that come with age. So, more work remains to be done.

Q: But isn’t the opposition alleging corruption against the outgoing KMC?

Mayor: Is anybody alleging lack of development in the last five years? No.

The development work we undertook in the last five years is my trump card for this election. In the last 30 years, the Left Front ruled KMC for about 20 years. They did not do anything to increase water supply to the city by even one gallon in the last five years, we ensured drinking water supply to 95% of the city.

Earlier, large swathes of Kolkata would be waterlogged for three to four days during rains. Now, the water’s cleared in two to three hours. Another crucial achievement is removal of garbage dumps and replacing them with compactor garbage disposal machines, possibly a first in Asia. This was done with financial help from the West Bengal government. We aim to make Kolkata free of visible garbage dumps soon.

Mind you, before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, UPA government had approved several projects, including garbage compactors and JNNURM. UPA also sanctioned funds but BJP cancelled all allocations after coming to power.

However, that could not impact Kolkata’s development. People have seen how the city has improved.

Since the opposition can’t find fault with our work, they’re making baseless allegations it’s like give the dog a bad name and hang it.

Q: Who’s your main opposition in the civic polls?

Mayor: Where is the opposition? I’m still searching for them. CPM and Left parties need to mould their politics so it appeals to people just being a gas balloon doesn’t help.

BJP’s in a hurry to grab the driver’s seat. Mama ta Banerjee had to wait for years before she got experienced drivers to steer Trinamool Congress to power. Our men were killed in Left Front’s regime but Trinamool workers didn’t run away.

BJP lacks workers and their leadership loves talking it’s easy to be a Draupadi in a political drama but political maturity is difficult to attain.

In conversation with… Sovan Chatterjee, Mayor of Kolkata

Posted on March 30, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

AITC Web Team: The Municipal Corporation elections are a few weeks away. What are the preparations leading up to it?

Mayor: Throughout the last five years, development work has been done in all the wards under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. 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.

AITC Web Team: According to the Opposition, the municipal board failed in the last five years. What would you say to that?

Mayor: Opposition will always criticize. People are the ultimate judge. Work has been done in all the departments and in all the wards irrespective of the political background.

AITC Web Team: Some projects of the Corporation are dependant on Central grants. Did you receive cooperation from the Centre?

Mayor: Before the Lok Sabha 2014 elections, we had sent reports to the Centre regarding several projects like JNNURM, garbage compactors, Tala Park etc. Funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission were also sanctioned. But BJP dismissed all such allocation after coming to power. However, that could not halt the surge of development in Kolkata.

The Corporation has achieved success in removing garbage dumps from the city with the quick action financial support from West Bengal Government. Kolkata has been made clean with the compactor machines and movable compactors. Kolkata has been made ‘Vat-Free’ without any support from the Centre.

AITC Web Team: What are the other significant works done by the Corporation in the past five years?

Mayor: Developmental work has taken place in every department. The most significant among all would be the supply of drinking water supply to 95% parts of the city. With the one and half crore gallon capacity water purification system at Garden Reach and the booster pumping station at Chetla, almost 12 wards including areas of Chetla, Alipore, eastern areas of Behala, Thakurpukur, Daspara and Joka would benefit directly and indirectly.

The Dhapa Jai Hind project has also been started which is supplying almost 30 million gallons of purified drinking water to Anandapur, Mukundapur, Patuli, JJ Khan Road and seven booster pumping station and 12 overhead reservoirs.

Also, the Kolkata Improvement Trust has done a great work to improve the drainage system, due to which Kolkata did not get water logged despite of having excessive rainfall from 2012 to 2014. Apart from this entire routine road building and repair work has been undertaken. Roads were repaired swiftly on complaints that were received.

AITC Web Team: What work has been undertaken to beautify Kolkata under the current Municipal Corporation?

Mayor: Our Hon’ble Chief Minister wished that the City of Joy be beautified in a single colour theme. In accordance with that, bridges, road railings, etc. have been painted. Out of the 620 odd parks in the city, almost all have been freshly painted; decorative lights have been installed along the roads.

The 2.5 km riverside along the Ganga from Princep Ghat to Babughat has been beautified. Anti-pollution devices have been installed at the crematoriums and the Nimtala crematorium has also been revamped. The Tangra slaughter house has also been modernised using latest technology and standards.

AITC Web Team: What are your expectations about the upcoming Kolkata Municipal elections?

Mayor: Our strength in the Corporation will increase from what it was last time. We have completed every work that was undertaken. Not a single developmental agenda has been left out. All the Councilors are now waiting for the elections.

KMC Clean City project to turn Kolkata vat-free

Posted on February 3, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s solid waste management department is on its way to realize the dream of a vat-free city that they had started nurturing after the introduction of mechanized compactors last year. Aptly christened Clean City programme, this is a boon for the citizens who had for years lived through stench from more than 200 open vats around the city. The open vats are being discontinued.

Once the garbage disposal modernization project is fully implemented, there will be as many as 78 modern garbage transfer stations – located at vantage points of the city – fitted with modern vehicles and equipment. These stations will replace large garbage vats that litter the road.

Currently, there are such station at Kalighat, Southern Avenue, Ballygunge Circular Road, Tallah, Chetla, Northern Park, Samsul Huda Road, Mirza Ghalib Street and other junctures. KMC is striving hard to replace all major vats since there are no less than 150 such vats in Kolkata. This apart, the KMC plans to buy movable compactors to collect garbage from roadside vats.

Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said that Kolkata Municipal Corporation has taken up a project to turn Kolkata into a “Vat free” city within March 2015.

Around 163 moveable compactors will be set up in all the fifteen boroughs replacing the vats at an estimated cost of Rs 152 crore. The project is expected to be completed by March 2015. Some of the wards under KMC have already got compactor machines. Around 15 such machines have already begun functioning. This is part of a beautification drive for the city, the Mayor said.

KMC has been also planning to extend the time of duty from 5 to 9 p.m. for workers who are deployed to clean the city.