Kolkata as I see

I came to Kolkata after my retirement not because I was a Bengali, but because real estate prices were comparatively lower than other metropolitan cities and also because after Delhi this was the only city I was familiar with, perhaps because my maternal grandmother lived here and we visited her regularly. I have spent most of my work-life in Delhi. But each time I wanted to buy an apartment, I could never find an appropriate one in Delhi, in which I would like to spend the autumn years of my life. Whereas, every time I looked for a flat in Kolkata, I always found one. This obviously indicated that Kolkata would be a more comfortable place to live! But lo and behold! I was in for a rude shock! I had booked a builder’s flat bang on the Eastern Metro Bypass, adjacent to Hiland Park, thinking such a location would give me an easy connectivity to the airport. That it did. But when I came to occupy the apartment in 2010 after three years from booking, I found the place had deteriorated. The metalled road had eroded through repeated use by trucks bringing in building materials (for this is an upcoming area), the promised Ganga water had not reached and the sewerage and the drainage systems were not in place. Moreover, no one in the neighbourhood knew when it would get done. Obviously, my immediate reaction was that of repulsion and regret for having come to the city. In three years’ time the place had not developed. The question that came to my mind is, “how long does it take for a residential neighbourhood to develop in Kolkata”? While the city boasts of spontaneous growth, where is the spontaneity? Why does the Local Government sanction plans and give Completion Certificates if it cannot provide the civic amenities, especially when a development fee is charged from each developer/owner? Other than electricity this area called Sammilani Park had nothing. The roads and the lanes were not metalled, there was no drainage or sewerage, nor filtered water. Normally cities are supposed to have the basic utility infrastructure and that too in a metropolitan city. In my estimation Kolkata appeared a virtual slum with residents very complacent about the lack of such amenities. A typical Bengali is very quick in retorting back with a rude answer to anything amiss; but not when it comes to hard work and leadership for improvement. The latter is reserved only for gaining political mileage. It really surprised me, for in my younger days Kolkata used to be clean, streets were washed twice a day (the only other city where I found streets being washed was Paris), and people were polite and friendly and culturally rich. There was an air of sophistication. Residential neighbourhoods had wonderful communities and the city was reasonably safe. Today residents do not care to know each other, extending any help is remote and the city teaming with thugs and thieves. Morning newspapers are full of crime reports. What has made Kolkata so? Was Calcutta better than Kolkata? Was colonialism better than democracy? The controversy I found was in lack of leadership in development and management, though here every issue is politicised! At that time leadership is not in short supply!

However, all this is passé now that the government has changed! One is now looking with hope towards the new government. With wonderful promises made, will development happen with speed? My part of the city (ie where I live) cannot be called peripheral anymore. Or does it take a lifetime to cross the transition? In planning norms thirty years is considered to be one generation? By then a young person grows old and an old person dies! Do we really have to wait till death for the city or the neighbourhood to develop? No wonder real estate prices do not rise in Kolkata; for initially an area is under-developed; and by the time it develops the place becomes so congested that people do not like to move into such areas. So, what happens then? Residents continue to live in under-developed pockets with lack of sanitation, deprived of water, using unmetalled roads where water collects during rains. Is this urban living? As a citizen I feel ashamed of myself and my country for being unable to help it grow decently, especially when I visit other countries and see the advanced development. We have no pride in ourselves. Our government does not work up to our expectations. It is a sad situation, with upper middle class people with high aspirations living in squalor. And, of course, the government or the management will always accuse the citizens of apathy after what we go through!