NBCC Vibgyor

photo cc rights arijeetb, sarafindian, suncity



Nice update Suncity.........Thanks
Any construction updates for Tata Eden Court??..........

Nice update Suncity.........Thanks
Any construction updates for Tata Eden Court??..........

No, we didn't get a chance to go to that site. But the official website will probably provide regular updates.

No, we didn't get a chance to go to that site. But the official website will probably provide regular updates.




Yes, you are right......Thanks

cc: TOI

The state PWD on Monday gave its clearance to the super hospitality gallery at Eden Gardens after a final inspection. Fire services officials also conducted an inspection and the department's decision will be placed before chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti on Tuesday.

The chief secretary will meet officers of Kolkata Knight Riders, CAB, IPL, and relevant department officers as well as Kolkata Police at Writers' Buildings on Tuesday for a final nod, including police clearance.

The KKR will play their next three home matches at the Eden Gardens against Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils on April 1, 4 and 7 respectively. Fire minister Pratim Chatterjee had lodged an FIR against CAB claiming the box was made by flouting rules.

cc: PTI

After the devastating fire at the Stephen Court building in Park Street, state authorities have decided to issue instructions to high rise buildings to submit building plans to fire brigade and local police so that a layout of the structure is at hand during emergencies.

It was decided that owners or residents of high rise buildings above 14.5 metres have to submit their building plan to the fire brigade and local police station besides a copy of the plan with the caretaker of the concerned building, Kolkata Municipal Corporation sources said.

The plan has to be submitted within a fortnight or else action will be initiated, sources said.

KMC commissioner Arnab Roy said that the sanctioned plan of the Stephen Court building was yet to be traced.

cc: ANI

The death toll from the fire that swept through the floors of the multi-storied Stephen Court building on Park Street here on March 23, has gone up to 43, following the recovery of seven more bodies on Monday from the fifth floor of the building.

A Kolkata Municipal Corporation official said: "We are working very carefully to remove the derbris, so a lot of time is being taken," adding that nearly 75 percent of the work of removing the rubble is finished and the rest will be done tonight.

Meanwhile, forensic experts have begun creating DNA profiles to identify badly burnt bodies in the fire, sources told ANI.

Earlier, Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee had slammed the disaster management of the West Bengal Government for failing to control the fire and directed a railway emergency team from Sealdah to assist people trapped inside the building.

"I spoke to the Defence Ministry for sending the army. The ministry has issued instructions to send the army," Banerjee had said, adding that the West Bengal Government should have sought the help of the army.anerjee said she did not want to make a political point, and had deliberately delayed her arrival at the site so that no one would accuse her of hampering rescue efforts.

"I was keeping an eye on matters and we waited for one-and-a half hours before coming here," she said.

West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee had then blamed the excessive traffic for the delay in rescue efforts, adding that the death toll could rise.

cc: PTI

After the devastating fire at the Stephen Court building in Park Street, state authorities have decided to issue instructions to high rise buildings to submit building plans to fire brigade and local police so that a layout of the structure is at hand during emergencies.

It was decided that owners or residents of high rise buildings above 14.5 metres have to submit their building plan to the fire brigade and local police station besides a copy of the plan with the caretaker of the concerned building, Kolkata Municipal Corporation sources said.

The plan has to be submitted within a fortnight or else action will be initiated, sources said.

KMC commissioner Arnab Roy said that the sanctioned plan of the Stephen Court building was yet to be traced.

Indian babus cannot think beyond triplication concept.

And where will they "store" such plans? Will they be digitized or will they be in paper in some file dumped in some corner which no one will be able to find?

cc: ANI

The death toll from the fire that swept through the floors of the multi-storied Stephen Court building on Park Street here on March 23, has gone up to 43, following the recovery of seven more bodies on Monday from the fifth floor of the building.

A Kolkata Municipal Corporation official said: "We are working very carefully to remove the derbris, so a lot of time is being taken," adding that nearly 75 percent of the work of removing the rubble is finished and the rest will be done tonight.

Meanwhile, forensic experts have begun creating DNA profiles to identify badly burnt bodies in the fire, sources told ANI.

Earlier, Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee had slammed the disaster management of the West Bengal Government for failing to control the fire and directed a railway emergency team from Sealdah to assist people trapped inside the building.

"I spoke to the Defence Ministry for sending the army. The ministry has issued instructions to send the army," Banerjee had said, adding that the West Bengal Government should have sought the help of the army.anerjee said she did not want to make a political point, and had deliberately delayed her arrival at the site so that no one would accuse her of hampering rescue efforts.

"I was keeping an eye on matters and we waited for one-and-a half hours before coming here," she said.

West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee had then blamed the excessive traffic for the delay in rescue efforts, adding that the death toll could rise.

Miss Mamata Bannerjee can walk the talk by allowing demolition of all illegal buildings in Kolkata. Isn't one of her henchman one of the leading protectors of illegal buildings in the city?

^^there's a saying in bengali, 'jei lankai jai shei ravan'...this provrb presntly implies 4 bengal..as whosovr is comin 2 pwr..is duin good 4 hmslf..n nt 4 d aam admi lyk us!

Era to Lanka e jabar agei ravan!

Indian babus cannot think beyond triplication concept.

And where will they "store" such plans? Will they be digitized or will they be in paper in some file dumped in some corner which no one will be able to find?



Miss Mamata Bannerjee can walk the talk by allowing demolition of all illegal buildings in Kolkata. Isn't one of her henchman one of the leading protectors of illegal buildings in the city?



Era to Lanka e jabar agei ravan!

hav dey thought 43 lives wudnt hav been lost!
as usual either of the 'lal baris'..
yes but i think he is not direct henchman..and i thnk nw she has got some serious rift in her party..as one of her MP has started spilling the beans!
& for the last part...:lol:

cc: ANI

Three exclusive combat ships, known as water jet fast attack crafts (WJFACs), were launched for the Indian Navy by the Ministry of Defence managed Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) at its Rajabagan Dockyard near Kolkata.

The three WJFACs will join the Southern Naval Command fleet for both coastal and high seas patroling.

The crafts have been christened INS Kabra, INS Koswari and INS Karuva after the names of picturesque islands in the Arabian Sea.

Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Kochi-based Southern Naval Command, accepted the three crafts after his wife cracked the traditional coconut on the hull of the ships prior to their launch.

He said these smaller crafts were much faster than the larger ships and would help patrol the coastal waters more effectively.

"They have got good speed and, they have this water jet propulsion, which means that the propeller is not exposed to the ground and thus, it can go into shallow water very fast.

Which is a great advantage when you are tackling ships, which are of the size of a fishing boats or moving fast in coastal water. This is the main role of this ship," he added.

Admiral Sushil further noted that the crafts are designed in such a manner that the propellers are not exposed to the ground, enabling them to manoeuvre even in shallow waters.

After the 26/11 terror attacks, the Indian Navy has also been assigned coastal security as a supplement the Indian Coast Guard.

"the Navy has a wide variety of roles, and, one of such role after the 26/11 terror attacks, is coastal security. We can't deploy our big ships for such jobs. It is costly and not cost effective. Therefore, it is better to have ships, which are capable of such role. These are tailor made for such roles," Admiral Sushil said.

The advantage of the WJFAC is tested and proven shape of its hull and improved efficiency. Each of these crafts is capable of cruising at speeds of 35 knots per hour on the high seas.

Another notable feature of the WJFAC is the Reverse Osmosis Plant for fresh water generation and sewage treatment plant to comply with international maritime organisation regulations.

The Kolkata Infosys love hate relationship continues..when will they tie the knot?

Infosys to get 50 acres near Kolkata

http://sify.com/news/Infosys-to-get-50-acres-near-Kolkata-news-National-kd4u4bjhfjf.html

The West Bengal government will allot 50 acres of land to software major Infosys in New Town on the northeast fringes of the city in the next 10 days, Housing Minister Gautam Deb said here Tuesday.

'Infosys have agreed to take land in the state. We will sit with the IT minister (Debesh Das) and Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation officials to finalise the modalities. It will be done in 10 days,' said Deb.

Also heard that Accenture has taken up space in two floors in the new Globsyn building.Can anybody confirm this.

^^ r u sure dat accenture is opening a shop in Globsyn?

cc: The Telegraph

State housing minister Goutam Deb announced on Tuesday that Infosys had decided to set up a campus in the state, a development about which the state IT minister pleaded ignorance. The company refused comment.

The IT major, headquartered in Bangalore, is willing to buy a 50-acre plot at Rajarhat for Rs 1.5 crore per acre and the deal would be inked in a few days, said Deb, also the chairman of Hidco, the implementing agency of New Town.

“Infosys has agreed to set up a campus here…. I will sit with Debesh (Das, the IT minister) in a few days and work out the finer details. Let me be clear, Infosys is ready. We will do everything to ensure they come here very soon,” added Deb.

Das, however, expressed surprise at the announcement. “We are in constant touch with them, that’s all I can say,” said the IT minister.

This has been the standard answer from Das on the issue of Infosys’s investment in Bengal since he assumed charge of the department after the 2006 Assembly elections.

A spokesperson for Infosys in Bangalore declined comment but a source in the company told Metro that it had not received a fresh proposal from the state government.

Infosys had first shown interest in buying land in Bengal in 2004 but backed out after Hidco quoted Rs 2.16 crore per acre. In 2008, Infosys and Wipro had signed MoUs with the government to buy 90 acres each in the 1,200-acre Kolkata IT Link project in Rajarhat, which was scrapped after the Vedic Village controversy.

The government had later offered 10 acres of land in Rajarhat to both companies, which they refused to accept. Last November, Wipro agreed to a government offer of 45 acres in Rajarhat. An IT department team had met Infosys officials in Bangalore last month to urge them to come to Bengal. “They are still in two minds about setting up a campus in West Bengal,” said a source in the IT department.

Deb reiterated in the evening that the deal would be sealed in a week. “Within seven days, our officials will sit with Infosys and work out the details,” said Deb.

“Infosys will take our land. I am saying this on the basis of the discussions we had with them till now. Land price will not be an impediment in talks with Infosys,” added minister.

Height of incompetence?

The West Bengal Government did not know that it is the owner of Stephen Court?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Bengal-govt-is-owner-of-Stephen-death-Court/articleshow/5740852.cms

:nuts:

In light of this exposure, all the thundering by the useless ministers :bash: and babus :bash: to prosecute the "owners" for "negligence" makes them look like ..... (you fill in the words).

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Govts-apathy-led-to-blaze-/articleshow/5745162.cms

Also it will be interesting to watch how the government has now filed an FIR against what turns out to be the government itself! Babu vs Babu - Mantriji vs Mantriji.

^^thats a too big thing for the mantris and the babus to know...thank god that they know their posts and ofce address!

The Kolkata metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will prepare comprehensive growth plan for the semi-urban areas under its jurisdiction.
The decision was taken at the agency's board meeting held at the Writers’ Buildings today and was presided over by the state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya.
Of 1,828 square km area under KMDA's jurisdiction, 608 square km is semi-urban with villages having poor infrastructure. A comprehensive growth plan along with socio economic plan of the area will be prepared and development work would be carried out subsequently. Drive will be taken up to remove encroachment on KMDA land and the move to prepare the land bank would be expedited. The Kolkata Improvement Trust is also working to prepare its land bank which will be placed before the board soon.
Mr Bhattacharya said, initiative would be taken up to augment revenue by imposing water tax and toll as the fund flow has been hit by recession. Money worth Rs 300 crore has not been received from projects that have been set up in private public partnership model.
A senior KMDA official said, Mr Bhattacharya had urged to ensure that projects taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) are completed on time to prevent cost escalation. Several flyovers taken up under the scheme have jumped deadline and are going far behind schedule. The flyover that has come up opposite Wipro building in sector V in Salt lake, had jumped the deadline thrice. The KMDA will carry out a comparative study of six metros and Rs 2.60 crore has been allocated to do the work.

Source: The Statesman

cc: the telegraph

The Assembly on Thursday passed the New Town Calcutta Development Authority (amendment) Bill 2010, which empowers the statutory body to provide three additional services.

Post-enactment, the authority will have the power to enlist trade and profession, record the land and building titles and supervise and control advertisements in the Rajarhat township.

The authority is now responsible for construction, roads, water supply, drainage, waste disposal and markets.

“There has been a rise in the demand for urban services that cannot be provided by panchayats, which lack in resources and experience. The rural bodies cannot sanction plans for highrises because they do not have engineers. The amendment, empowering the New Town authority to provide these services, will help fill in the gap,” said housing minister Goutam Deb, also the chairman of Hidco, the implementing agency of the township.

The new services the authority will provide are usually offered by a municipal body, but the present population of New Town does not warrant the setting up of such a dedicated set-up.

“You cannot expect local panchayats to sanction plans for state-of-the-art structures being built by the likes of DLF, Unitech and Shaporji Palonji. For that engineers are required,” said an official of the New Town authority.

“It would take another 10-15 years for New Town to develop. Not even 35,000 people have moved in. It is, however, necessary to ensure that quality civic services are provided while infrastructure development is on,” the official added.

New Town was conceived in the mid-90s and 3,075 hectares were acquired in more than 25 mouzas.

The New Town Development Authority was formed in 2007 to ensure “planned development” of what the government billed as showpiece township and provide various services and amenities.

Though the bill was passed unopposed, Manas Bhuniya of the Congress raised questions about the infrastructure in New Town.

“The roads are in bad shape and there is no drinking water, market or hospital. Without these how can a township be developed?” he asked. The minister did not respond to the questions.

The Kolkata metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will prepare comprehensive growth plan for the semi-urban areas under its jurisdiction.
The decision was taken at the agency's board meeting held at the Writers’ Buildings today and was presided over by the state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya.
Of 1,828 square km area under KMDA's jurisdiction, 608 square km is semi-urban with villages having poor infrastructure. A comprehensive growth plan along with socio economic plan of the area will be prepared and development work would be carried out subsequently. Drive will be taken up to remove encroachment on KMDA land and the move to prepare the land bank would be expedited. The Kolkata Improvement Trust is also working to prepare its land bank which will be placed before the board soon.
Mr Bhattacharya said, initiative would be taken up to augment revenue by imposing water tax and toll as the fund flow has been hit by recession. Money worth Rs 300 crore has not been received from projects that have been set up in private public partnership model.
A senior KMDA official said, Mr Bhattacharya had urged to ensure that projects taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) are completed on time to prevent cost escalation. Several flyovers taken up under the scheme have jumped deadline and are going far behind schedule. The flyover that has come up opposite Wipro building in sector V in Salt lake, had jumped the deadline thrice. The KMDA will carry out a comparative study of six metros and Rs 2.60 crore has been allocated to do the work.

Source: The Statesman

Don't know when will this happen but it will really help Kolkata expand as there are lots of areas under KMDA like Kalyani, Bandel, Chandan Nagar, Chinsura, Naihati, Barrackpore, Barasat, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Sonarpur, Dankuni, Howrah, etc that need to be developed into big cities.. These semi-urban areas has great potential to turn Kolkata into a highly developed urban city. Lets hope for the best..

The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) plans to renovate and beautify the Nimtolla immersion ghat in north Kolkata and rename it after Rabindranath Tagore. Work will start before Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary, Union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy promised on Thursday. MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said Mamata Banerjee will get a railway PSU to donate Rs 25 lakh towards this project.

Of the 41 major ghats along the eastern bank of the Hooghly, 15 are maintained by KoPT. According to officiating KoPT chairman Anindya Majumdar, his organisation has been assigned the task of upgrade and renovation of 12 ghats. At least Rs 22 lakh will be required for basic repairs alone.

“This is just a beginning. We will try to beautify the entire riverfront up to Naihati. All departments will have to pitch in with support,” said Union minister of state for urban development Sougata Roy.
TNN

The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) plans to renovate and beautify the Nimtolla immersion ghat in north Kolkata and rename it after Rabindranath Tagore. Work will start before Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary, Union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy promised on Thursday. MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said Mamata Banerjee will get a railway PSU to donate Rs 25 lakh towards this project.

Of the 41 major ghats along the eastern bank of the Hooghly, 15 are maintained by KoPT. According to officiating KoPT chairman Anindya Majumdar, his organisation has been assigned the task of upgrade and renovation of 12 ghats. At least Rs 22 lakh will be required for basic repairs alone.

“This is just a beginning. We will try to beautify the entire riverfront up to Naihati. All departments will have to pitch in with support,” said Union minister of state for urban development Sougata Roy.
TNN

If the riverfront till Naihati is beautified, it will not only change the skyline of Kolkata but will redefine the beauty of the city.. And to add to that, a road like the Marine Drive in Mumbai needs to be built to enjoy the view of the river!

The KoPT or any other relevant authority must not forget to beautify the Howrah side of the river.. Once done, Kolkata will not be less than London!

^^thats a too big thing for the mantris and the babus to know...thank god that they know their posts and ofce address!

Probably they don't know their office address as well.. its just that they know the route to their offices.. but will fail to give complete details if asked for! :ohno:

Jogen’s green tourism model for Nayachar
| TNN

The state government may be keeping quiet on the chemical hub project at Nayachar, but Trinamool Congress is going about drumming up support against it.

Intellectuals close to Trinamool have been debating about alternative plans for the Nayachar economy. Among them is artist Jogen Chowdhury, who has even drawn up a green project for the island. Chowdhury’s plan focuses on developing Nayachar as a tourist spot. He has prepared a sketch of the island, which he clarifies, is not to scale and is more like an artist’s impression. Chowdhury has toured the island and the surrounding rivers extensively.

“I am against a chemical hub coming up at Nayachar because of ecological reasons. Not only will it displace fishermen and farmers but will also wreak havoc on the marine life. The state government should set up such hubs in arid places where neither farming nor fishing is possible. The green project that I have drawn up will help improve the economy and make it a big tourist draw,” Chowdhury said.

The 13,000 acres of land that form Nayachar is bound by water on all sides. Chowdhury’s map gives greatest weightage to fishermen, using fishing as the lynchpin of the tourism industry to develop there. Ample space has been kept along the island’s coast for anchoring fishing boats, developing fishing alcoves, fishing villages and selling points where the catch may be sold to hotels and visitors.

A number of hotels and guest houses would come up, all of which would aim at popularising fish among tourists. “In fact, fish tourism is what Nayachar should look forward to. I have been told by marine experts at Kolkata Port Trust that there are thousands of fish varieties available there in huge quantities. Pisciculture is an ideal industry because the potential is completely untapped,” said Chowdhury. The map earmarks several places where designer kiosks would be set up for selling both raw and cooked fish. “This is a practice on Sentosa island in Singapore and can be replicated at Nayachar,” Chowdhury said.

His tours at Nayachar have given him a “rough idea about the nature of the land. It is not extensively cultivated but there are pockets where crops are grown. My map keeps these places intact. I suggest that these portions be maintained and better irrigation facilities be provided to farmers for better yield,” he said.

There are at least seven to eight designated areas for growing organic vegetables, flowers, medicinal plants and orchid gardens. “There are large forested areas that should be left undisturbed and tours to the forests should be arranged,” he explained.

The map provides ample space for developing built-up areas like hotels, cafeteria and shopping zones. “The authorities should take care to match the architectural style of these buildings with the nature of the place. Highrises with glass facades that reflect heat should be avoided,” Chowdhury stressed. The stretches that would be developed into habitable areas would be punctuated with open-air auditoria for displaying folk and other art forms. “Spaces have also been earmarked for developing health centres with facilities for yoga and holistic treatment like ayurveda and naturopathy,” Chowdhury said.

He promises that following such a plan, Nayachar can easily be developed into a tourist destination of international standards.

Jogen’s green tourism model for Nayachar
| TNN



Sometimes you have to wonder whether many of these big "intellectuals" are "green" because that is the trend to gain media coverage or they are really green from their heart.

And where Mr Jogen is this arid place in West Bengal? Purulia? Bankura? Will Mahasweta Devi allow a chemical hub in those places? Will not she say that it will displace tribals? Or if it is in some other place, Coal India will say there are coal reserves?

Let Mr Jogen come up with a green plan for Digha.

If the riverfront till Naihati is beautified, it will not only change the skyline of Kolkata but will redefine the beauty of the city.. And to add to that, a road like the Marine Drive in Mumbai needs to be built to enjoy the view of the river!

The KoPT or any other relevant authority must not forget to beautify the Howrah side of the river.. Once done, Kolkata will not be less than London!

KOPT will be unable to do it. It neither has the will nor has proper management. As far as Howrah is concerned it is like a zone of darkness - neglected by all political parties and government agencies.

Godrej Genesis, Sector V - U/C
photo cc arijeetb

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4999/genesish.jpg

The municipal body took up a project to concretize the road alongside the culvert from EM Bypass till the new box bridge near CSTC bus station.

A section of the stretch near Jadavpur Univ Salt Lake campus
photo cc arijeetb

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6945/concreteroadsaltlake.jpg

The municipal body took up a project to concretize the road alongside the culvert from EM Bypass till the new box bridge near CSTC bus station.

A section of the stretch near Jadavpur Univ Salt Lake campus
photo cc arijeetb


Yes, I think from Chingrighata to the new bridge near Nicco park(opposite side road of the canal) the road has been made by concrete.. :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rz75f/Tropic_of_Cancer_India/

A look at Gujarat, Bhopal, Jharkhand & Kolkata

IIM-C to invest on infrastructure
Monday, 05 Apr, 2010

The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, (IIM-C) plans to invest about Rs 180 crore for expanding its infrastructure to accommodate a higher number of students and faculty.

IIM-C is likely to build new hostels and academic complexes to accommodate the increasing number of students.

Currently, construction is in progress for the buildings and work is likely to be completed within a year. So far, IIM-C has invested Rs 60 crore for the proposed development.

they'd better do that, especially after jacking up the fee by 50%

they'd better do that, especially after jacking up the fee by 50%

^^yeah, the jack-up was too high for comfort..and that too at one go.
In addition to infrastructure in the existing IIMs they should set up more to accomodate the ever increasing number of students.

The great Rajarhat dream may finally be a reality. Faced with accountability ahead of the 2011 assembly elections, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is desperately trying to get the Centre to pitch in so that all tall claims about “the showpiece township” could materialise.
The state urban development department and the implementing agency for the township, the Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), will soon prepare a city development plan (CDP) so that Rajarhat can be brought under an urban development ministry scheme for satellite townships. As per the central scheme, at least Rs 600 crore (in the first phase) will be disbursed for infrastructure of the township that has long missed the deadline to shape up as Kolkata’s biggest satellite ever. The Centre will fund 80% of the project cost, which is likely to be increased in the subsequent phases of implementation.
The 3,779-hectare township — three times the size of Salt Lake — is billed to house 1.5 million residents (Kolkata currently has 8 million) in the next decade. But Hidco, despite making tall claims about the “country’s best township” — especially before the NRI clientele — has miserably failed to provide basic facilities ever since 1,000-odd residents moved into housing estates in Action Area-I.
Poor quality drinking water, lack of proper markets and medicine shops, transportation system, poor sewerage and drainage systems — the deprivation list is endless.
Finally, the government has realised that it can’t go it alone to give the township a proper shape. But it must get its act together because the scheme must be introduced within March 2012 (11th Five Year Plan period). The idea is to bring Rajarhat under the central-sponsored scheme of urban infrastructure development in satellite towns or counter-magnets for cities with million-plus population.
As per the Centre’s stipulations, Rajarhat or New Town is the only township which has functional linkages with the mother city (Kolkata). But there is a catch: the satellite township must be run by a municipal administration which can levy property tax on the residents for steady generation of developmental funds.
“The state government has written to the Centre that the nuances of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority matches the needs of a municipal government. All we need to do now is to introduce the clauses of levying property tax,” said Hidco chairman Gautam Deb. “Meetings are on to work out ways for introducing property tax. Once we have passed the required rules, we shall proceed with bringing Rajarhat under the central scheme,” said Deb.

Source: TNN

^^this step should have been taken much earlier...because after few spells f rain the inner roads gets waterlogged...newyz its better late dan never!

KMDA Apartments


http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2077/kmda.jpg (http://img31.imageshack.us/i/kmda.jpg/)

Priya launches Bioscope multiplex at aggressive price


Kolkata: Priya Entertainments launched the first Bioscope, its chain of multiplex, at Axis Mall in Rajarhat on Thursday, and threw the gauntlet at other multiplex chains by adopting an aggressive pricing strategy.

“Our focus is the middle income group population,” said Arijit Dutta, MD, PEPL, “our tickets will be priced between Rs 50 and Rs 75.” Inox, which also has a property at Rajarhat, with four screens, has tickets priced between Rs 50 on a weekday going up to Rs 190 on the weekends.”

A multiplex official, on condition of anonymity, dismissed Priya’s price as “an introductory offer” and said other players would stick to their price points for now.

In its 51st year, Dutta said Priya’s multiplex is a “themeplex, with four screens dedicated to a particular theme.” So screen one is Theme Egypt and called Cleopatra; the 270-seater also has a performing arts stage with state-of-the-art equipment. The three other screens touch on the universe, the ocean and life in 180 BC for themes. “Today’s multiplexes are without character, we wanted to do something different,” said Dutta.

The four screens apart, Bioscope also has a kids screen, “where comics will stream and we will have governesses to look after the children”. PEPL is also tying up with a toy company – “we are talking to several.”

Dutta has also left room for a conference room which can double up as a VIP private screening area. “Kolkata lacks preview screens. We have added a 40-50 seat preview room at Bioscope.”

While Rajarhat is first off the block, there are two on the anvil, one in Durgapur and the other at Thimpu in Bhutan.


Dutta was also very keen that Bioscope had a “lobby with lots of sofas and adda space”. So, Rajarhat has a plush lobby complete with a Satyajit Ray corner. “We have lots of old photographs from Ray film premiers and posters of Ray films… we are putting all that up.”


http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Priya-launches-Bioscope-multiplex-at-aggressive-price/602115/


-

^^this step should have been taken much earlier...because after few spells f rain the inner roads gets waterlogged...newyz its better late dan never!

The underground Sewerage system is not yet ready in Rajarhat . They are completely dependent on the 2 canals...Bagjola and Kestopur for Sewerage but dont care about regularly dredging those canals also.
Water logging is a regular incident there.

The greatest success of Buddha is perhaps that he has been able to convince a large amount of educated Bengalis that he is trying to do a whole bunch of things without actually delivering anything.

Forget getting new investments in IT/BT/ Finance and other knowledge based industries, his govt is so efficient that they are not being able to even spend the JNNURM funds that Centre is giving.

I think everybody in Kolkata knows the rate of progress of Science City flyover, Baghajatin flyover, Jadavpur thana flyover, Kamalgazi flyover etc.
From my childhood I am hearing that Kolkata-Siliguri journey will b possible in 6 hours once the widening of NH-34 is done but that is yet to be done.

CLUBTOWN HEIGHTS, B.T. Road


http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2827/clubtown2overview.jpg (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/clubtown2overview.jpg/)

The underground Sewerage system is not yet ready in Rajarhat . They are completely dependent on the 2 canals...Bagjola and Kestopur for Sewerage but dont care about regularly dredging those canals also.
Water logging is a regular incident there.

The greatest success of Buddha is perhaps that he has been able to convince a large amount of educated Bengalis that he is trying to do a whole bunch of things without actually delivering anything.

Forget getting new investments in IT/BT/ Finance and other knowledge based industries, his govt is so efficient that they are not being able to even spend the JNNURM funds that Centre is giving.

I think everybody in Kolkata knows the rate of progress of Science City flyover, Baghajatin flyover, Jadavpur thana flyover, Kamalgazi flyover etc.
From my childhood I am hearing that Kolkata-Siliguri journey will b possible in 6 hours once the widening of NH-34 is done but that is yet to be done.

I agree with you Anan355..

Nothing has happened in Bengal as such over the past few years. People might say that yes, Kolkata has seen some growth and I agree. But what is the rate of such growth when compared to other cities? Growth is not "what is now" versus "what it was".. Growth is "where do I stand today as a city/state in my country and the world at large" versus "where I used to stand as a city/state in the past".. and sadly, we are not only stagnant but have de-grown to a large extent!

If Maharashtra could develop Pune, Karnataka could transform Bangalore, Gurgaon and Noida which never existed as prominent cities are now ahead of Kolkata, our government promised to develop Durgapur-Assansol corridor, Burdwan, Kalyani, Siliguri.. and just promised! These are still promises and not reality!

Leave aside other cities, what has been done for developing Kolkata? The only IT sector! An IT sector with congested roads and poor traffic system! Is that the newly found pride of our city! Look at Mumbai, it is no longer the same in size. Places like Andheri, Bandra, Pawai, Thane, Vashi, Mulund, Goregaon, Versova, Malad are all suburban areas and yet they are ahead of Kolkata! When will Kolkata grow bigger to include its norther, southern, western and eastern suburbs?

I do not know whether it is the Left Front or the TMC-Congress alliance that will make my city and the state grow and I don't want to know as well!!! All I want to see is my state growing.. whoever does it doesn't matter! But alas..

People might say that National Highways are matters of the Center. Just to clarify, yes, the National Highways are matters of the Center but to acquire land for the project is a State responsibility and the WB Government has clearly failed to acquire the land for the project! Sensing trouble, it has now requested the Center to directly acquire land for completion of the NH34!!

I bear similiar feelings what you have pointed out here. Thank you debayan:)

People might say that National Highways are matters of the Center. Just to clarify, yes, the National Highways are matters of the Center but to acquire land for the project is a State responsibility and the WB Government has clearly failed to acquire the land for the project! Sensing trouble, it has now requested the Center to directly acquire land for completion of the NH34!!

Now don't blame state govt for this. We all know who is the culprit behind the land problem.. :nuts:

Now don't blame state govt for this. We all know who is the culprit behind the land problem.. :nuts:

See , Mamata started the land acquisition trouble since 2007 ( Singur / Nandigram timeframe). But what was the state govt doing before that? There was no trouble when Govt had got the land for Rajarhat. From early 90s I am hearing about NH-34 expansion. But they just did not do it.

Okk...I agree Jyoti Basu was hell bent on not doing anything. But what did Buddhadev do for infrastructure development, creation of knowledge based jobs before 2007? Now they are trying to get false sympathy.

Now...about the land acquisition trouble I will cite another example. DLF wanted to develop a 5000 acre township near Dankuni and they were ready to pay Rs 54 Lac / acre. Govt wanted to acquire the land at Rs. 9 lac / acre from the farmers and develop it and then hand it over to the farmers. The farmers were not ready at such a low price. DLF became frustrated and wanted to pay Rs. 40 Lac/ acre for the agricultural land and then develop it on their own. But the Govt would not allow direct purchase from the farmers at such a high price.

WHY?

Because if the farmers become rich, it will be very difficult to keep them under "party" clutches. At the end of the day, " party " needs to control the farmers...right?

On the contrary, in Bangalore the farmers got Rs. 65 lac / acre from the Govt for development of 309 acre Hardware & aerospace SEZ near the new international airport.

Issue is not with land, issue is with the willingness to develop infrastructure and create jobs. They just do not have the intention. Otherwise what is the issue with the maintainence of the various existing state highways? Anybody who has travelled across the length and breadth of WB, knows the appalling condition of the roads. ( except the Golden quadrilateral portions).

From early 90s I am hearing about NH-34 expansion. But they just did not do it.


The 4 laning of NH-34 has been approved by NHAI just few years back when Pranab Mukherjee had some accident on this road. State govt was trying hard for this approval since long anyway. Land acquisition for NH-34 from Behrampore till Kissangunj has been completed I think, and handed over to NHAI. Lets see what NAHI does. And currently Kisangunj till Siliguri(NH-31) it is a very nice concrete 4 lane highway(completed) under East west corridor project and state govt was the only one who acquired the land.

There are many issues regarding the land acquisition from Madhyamgram to Behrampur. I hope they will make it soon..

NH-34 is not a state highway so the blame goes to NHAI as well..

what is the connection of this topic with the new AREVA building.?

..

Greenwood Elements

photo copyright Raja

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/1497/rajarhatprojectraja.jpg (http://img714.imageshack.us/i/rajarhatprojectraja.jpg/)

Construction Upades: Xanadu, Rajarhat

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/589/xanadumar1001.jpg (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/xanadumar1001.jpg/)

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7271/xanadumar1003.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/i/xanadumar1003.jpg/)

Construction Updates: Siddha Pines, Rajarhat

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/600/pinesmar1001.jpg (http://img18.imageshack.us/i/pinesmar1001.jpg/)

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1828/pinesmar1004.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/pinesmar1004.jpg/)

Construction Updates: Merlin Warden Lakeview, Ultodanga

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/8220/mw1n.jpg (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/mw1n.jpg/)

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3818/mw2yo.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/mw2yo.jpg/)

Camellia to launch banking services in India
The first representative office of the company will be opened in Kolkata on Tuesday.

ET KOLKATA

UKs CAMELLIA plc,which holds 74% in tea major Goodricke Group,is strengthening its presence in India.For starters,it is launching its banking and financial services operations in the country through its Londonbased wholly-owned subsidiary,Duncan Lawrie Ltd.
Camellia plc has already obtained the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval for kicking off banking and financial services operations in the country.
The first representative office of the company will be opened in Kolkata on Tuesday.This apart,the UK group has also firmed up plans to increase its tea production in India from 33 million kg to 50 million kg through acquisitions of tea estates in Assam.
Talking to newsmen on the sidelines of Goodrickes AGM on Tuesday,chairman PJ Field said: The representative office in Kolkata will help high net worth individuals invest in stocks listed in the UK and Europe.We will also help them invest in stocks listed in the US and Far East to some extent.We want to test the Indian market before we expand our footprint in the country.
Incidentally,Mr Field is the MD of Camellias banking and financial services and heads Duncan Lawrie Limited.Duncan Lawrie is a private bank that provides services to individuals,companies,charities and trusts.It offers services like investment management,financial planning,offshore services and trust and estate planning.
Goodricke Group MD & CEO AN Singh said the company is scouting for tea estates in Assam for acquisition.Our groups total production is 33 million kg now.Our aim is to achieve 50 million kg at the shortest possible time.We are interested in acquiring tea estates in Assam.However,right now prices are too high and there is hardly any offer.We will acquire estates at the right time and at the right opportunity, Mr Singh said.
Goodricke has just launched ice tea in the market.It is now available at select clubs in the city and in Darjeeling.We have decided to increase our presence in the ice tea,instant tea and packet tea categories.We now sell 6 million kg of tea through packets.We would like to increase it to 10 million kg by calendar 2012.We also export 70% of our instant tea produced at our Aibheel plant to countries like USA,UK and Japan.I had recently been to Japan to beef up our presence in instant tea there.We have received encouraging response.In the domestic market,we are looking at tie-ups with airlines for selling our instant tea, Mr Singh further added.
The Aibheel plant churns out 300 tonnes of instant tea,of which nearly 200 tonnes is exported.Goodricke has invested nearly Rs 100 crore for upgrading its 28 factories and to launch packet teas in last three years.

TRAFFIC BYPASS
New airport road to skirt VIP chaos
Exclusive road for VIPs to lead to Narayanpur gate

TNN

Kolkata: In future,Mamata Banerjee may not have to board an auto to avoid missing a flight when her convoy is caught in a jam on VIP Road.For,VIPs like her may not have to hit VIP Road some years down the line.
But,for that to happen,the state government must first complete building the 10-lane,5 km corridor connecting the Chinar Park crossing on Rajarhat Expressway to the Madhyamgram crossing on NH-34.Another road will then have to constructed connecting this corridor to the airport gate at Narayanpur.Work on the corridor project began on Monday.(see diagram)
Frequent traffic snarls on VIP Road have been delaying flights with passengers,including VIPs,as well as airline crew who have been held up along the lone corridor connecting the city to the airport.This menace led AAI to propose to the state government,at a recent meeting in Writers Buildings,that it consider building this road to Narayanpur and connect it to this 10-lane corridor.State and AAI officials discussed the feasibility of the alternative route at the meeting.If accepted and implemented by the state,VIP movements along VIP Road could be restricted.
Acknowledging that such a meeting was indeed held,airport director R.Srinivasan said,Kolkata airport lacks an alternative road to VIP Road that connects it with the city.The new road can reduce VIP movements on VIP Road,reducing traffic congestion along it.The proposal is in its initial stage and we have to study its feasibility.
The Airline Operators Committee an amalgamation of officials from different airlines recently took up the issue of frequent traffic snarls along VIP Road with the North 24-Parganas administration.This followed a steady increase in late arrivals by passengers over the last two years.
Welcoming the proposal,North 24-Parganas SP Rahul Srivastava said the authorities want to overhaul traffic movement to and from the airport to provide the best facilities to passengers.
The state government estimate that around 45,000 cars ply from Chingrighata on E M Bypass to the airport every day.Once the new road comes up,it will help ease traffic movement at the airport junction to some extent by diverting about 20,000 vehicles through this stretch towards NH-34.Further,if airport-bound VIPs avoid the Haldiram-Gate number 1 stretch on VIP Road,traffic congestion along VIP Road will decline to a great extent.Airport-bound vehicles will benefit the most, the official added.
North 24-Parganas traffic officials acknowledged that about 35-40 VIPs of varying stature head for the airport in a day.Even if VIPs take the Rajarhat Expressway,airport-bound traffic is stopped at Baguihati,Kestopur and Haldiram crossings 10 minutes before a convoy reaches Haldiram.Even Ultadanaga-bound traffic is stopped at gate number one to allow an easy right-turn for the convoy to the approach road from VIP Road to the terminal buildings.
North 24-Parganas police estimate that VIP Road records an hourly car count of more than 2,000 from 10 am to noon and from 5.30 pm to 9 pm.During the rest of the day,more than 800 vehicles ply along the road in an hour.It takes around 40 minutes to reach the airport from Ultadanaga during lean hours and anywhere between an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours during peak hours.Since movement along VIP Road is heavy,even if traffic is stopped for 10 minutes,the chaos turns worse, said a senior North 24 Parganas traffic official.

Spencers Galleria Mall, Syed Amir Ali Avenue

http://i42.tinypic.com/2mfal1e.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/260731w.jpg

Link (http://agrawalarchitects.com/projects/MILLENIUM-CITY.html#)

naicee :cheers:

Axis is open now :cheers:

Times of India

New Town gets another mall

Kolkata: Axis, the mall that could not be opened for two years due to the economic slump, was finally inaugurated on Thursday.
In many ways though, the inauguration on Poila Baisakh was symbolic with only Peerless’ Bengali cuisine restaurant Aaheli and Priya Entertainment’s multiplex brand Bioscope open to customers. It is expected to take at least six more months for the mall to really get going. The 60-odd retail brands, that include the likes of Adidas, Puma, Spykar, Nike, XX Sports and Levis, will move in for fitment of their stores from next month. The Axis complex includes three blocks spread over 5 acre. While one block covering 80,000 sq ft has been rented out to gems and jewellery brand Gitanjali, another block with 50,000 sq ft comprises office space. The third block, spread over 300,000 sq ft retail area and 43,000 sq ft cineplex, was inaugurated on Monday.

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/Pc0071800.jpg

Godrej & Boyce plans to set up two units
One base in the east in the next four years to cater to increased demand for its products.

ET KOLKATA

HOME appliances maker Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co is likely to set up a manufacturing base for its appliances division in southern India in the next couple of years and another base in the east in the next four years to cater to increased demand for its products.
The company is also looking at a 30% growth in 2010-11 against Rs 5,000 crore achieved during 2009-10.The Godrej Appliances division,which has products like refrigerators,washing machines,and recently launched LED TV sets,is expecting a 40% growth over Rs 1,700 crore in 2009-10.
On the expansion front,Godrej & Boyce will typically look for 100 acres in both locations.
We are scouting for land in southern India and are in the process of conducting a survey to strategically locate our plants so that they are not too far from the market and suits our logistics requirements, George Menezes,chief operating officer,Godrej Appliances,told reporters at a press meet to launch Godrejs Eon range of LED Televisions.
Currently,the division is running its units in western India and North India at about 85% capacity.Although,Mr Menezes did not quantify the investment required for the division,he said: We typically spend about Rs 150 crore every year on capacity expansion and another 5% of the Godrej Appliances turnover for branding every year.
The company also plans to expand its portfolio of appliances by entering into cooking ranges and water products.We have identified other areas where we can get into,like cooking products and water products, said Mr Menezes.
Products being considered include water purifiers and cooking appliances like chimney in the future.Talking about the water purifiers market,Kamal Nandi,vicepresident (sales & marketing),Godrej Appliances,said: The water purifier market is still at its nascent stage.But it has high growth potential.The total market size is around Rs 1,500 crore.
Godrej Appliances is already into ultra-violet and non-powered water purification segment in a smaller way.
It is now planning to spruce up its service network for the water purifier market.Mr Nandi said cooking products is a niche market and would take another five years to mature.
On the television front,the company is now in the process of nationally launching its LED television brand Eon almost one-anda-half years after the company first launched the product in Andhra Pradesh.
We are launching the LED TV sets in West Bengal today and will be going to states like Kerala and Maharashtra (except Mumbai) very soon, said Mr Menezes.
Adding,he said: In 2010-11,we plan to garner a share of 5% of the total television market and are targeting a share of 10% subsequently.The total television market is around Rs 15,000 crore.
http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?edlabel=ETKM&pubLabel=ET&pageid=8&mydateHid=16-04-2010

one of the phases of sankalpa
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/764/image0623.jpg

A highrise at the morh where one side goes to Infospace and the other side goes to cc2
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/4435/image0624.jpg

IMO this is the AA2 HIDCO office..though not sure..check me
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/7366/image0625.jpg

shristi hotel|u/c
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1259/image0626.jpg

Synergy|again guessing
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9545/image0627.jpg

Synergy|again guessing
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9545/image0627.jpg

IMO this is the AA2 HIDCO office..though not sure..check me
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/7366/image0625.jpg

^^you are right. Thanks for the photos:)

Axis is open now :cheers:

Times of India
^^Guess the promoters can have some relief now. I saw several cars the other evening which means the multiplex is already becoming popular:)

On a different note, I am not sure how those single brands can survive today's high rentals. A Big Bazaar/Spencers, a large food court and multiplex are necessary for every mall to survive.

Thanks for the nice updates studdmanster. :cheers:

^^Guess the promoters can have some relief now. I saw several cars the other evening which means the multiplex is already becoming popular:)

On a different note, I am not sure how those single brands can survive today's high rentals. A Big Bazaar/Spencers, a large food court and multiplex are necessary for every mall to survive.

Probably they still have enough place for a new big bazar or spencer. I am really happy to see a multiplex brand (Bioscope) from Kolkata. :cheers:

Bengal gets thumbs-up from India Inc
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Despite reeling under the Maoist menace and the Nandigram and Singur setbacks,West Bengal is still a favoured destination for investors.A recent study conducted by Assocham has put the states Business Confidence Index (BCI) at 6.5 on a scale of 10 indicating that India Inc still has some trust left in the states industrial policies.
The policies are working in the right direction to make Bengals industrial prospects conducive, Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said.
According to the study conducted among over 280 CEOs and MDs more than 70% the respondents feel that the 6.5 BCI is based on the states 9% GDP growth rate during the last 5-6 years,coupled with flow of investments in sectors like infrastructure,real estate and construction,manufacturing and IT/ITEs.
Over 200 CEOs observe that apart from domestic investment,the state can attract investment from overseas players in areas like clean energy,biotech and nanotechnology,healthcare,education and infrastructure.
Around 55% respondents also called for providing opportunities in agriculture,food processing,chemicals,petroleum and downstream industries,iron & steel and power.They also urged the state government to analyse the untapped opportunities for investors.
As per Chamber estimates,West Bengal has received investments of up to Rs 5.3-lakh crore till September 2009 over a 12-year period,which indicates the confidence of investors towards the state,added Rawat.
According to the survey,over 225 respondents have exuded confidence that because of higher BCI,Bengal can be rated on a par with favourite investment destinations like Gujarat,Maharasthra,Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh,Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
About 52% of CEOs felt that since the state offers cheap and skilled manpower coupled with low cost of living compared to other places,setting up of an industrial unit here will be highly beneficial for investors, the study said.
It added that over 64% respondents expressed their happiness in the all round development of IT and ITEs in Bengal,with the presence of IT majors like TCS,IBM and Google,and setting up of Software Research Centre at Kolkata by Intellisys Technologies and IIT Kharagpur to promote R&D.
Over 190 CEOs have called for setting up investment promotion cell in West Bengal,which can identify the potential areas of investment.Apart from that,the proposed cell should be empowered to clear the pending projects to attract maximum investment to the state, an official added.


IMAGE BOOST

70% feel that Bengals high Business-Confidence-Index is based on its 9% GDP growth rate during the last 5-6 years 52% of CEOs feel that Bengals USP is its cheap and skilled manpower and low cost of living 64% are happy with the development of IT and ITEs in Bengal 225 respondents feel Bengal can be rated on a par with Gujarat,Maharasthra,Karnataka 200 CEOs feel the state can attract investment from overseas players 190 CEOs called for setting up an investment promotion cell in Bengal 55% want more opportunities in agriculture,food processing,chemicals,petroleum and downstream industries,iron & steel,and power


See Google has opened office in Kolkata w.r.t TNN

Spice Digital Bets Big In The East
April 18th, 2010

By Tarun PK
Leave a comment Go to comments

Spice Digital Bets Big In The EastSpice Digital one of the leading VAS players in the country, announced the opening of a larger office premises at Kolkata , augmenting its capacity to service the increasing needs of the telecom market in East India.

This announcement comes shortly after Spice Digital announced a slew of senior level appointments to lead verticals within the organization.

Spice Digital reaches out to over 50 million subscribers daily in its markets within the country and across borders including Bangladesh, Mauritius, Kenya, Indonesia, Jordan, Nepal, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

Saket Agarwal, CEO, Spice Digital said, “The last few years have seen Spice Digital growing very rapidly and strengthening its stand in the Indian telecom industry. While we have a very strong presence in almost all parts of India, we felt the need to expand our operations in the Eastern part of India to align ourselves better to the market, as most operators now cater to the Eastern and North East states. This should help us to service our customers better and improve engagement levels, thereby strengthening our partnerships with our customers”
http://telecomtalk.info/spice-digital-bets-big-in-the-east/25187/

Any idea where they(Spice) have taken space

Urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya laid the foundation stone of Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority’s (NDITA) administrative building at Sector V on Monday.
Pegged at Rs 27 crore, the 16-storey building is expected to be complete within the next 18 months. The eco-friendly, centrally air-conditioned building with adequate open area and terrace will come up on a 20-cottah plot with a 96,000 sq/ft built-up space. It will have two basements for car parking.
“We are making car parking facilities compulsory in all upcoming buildings in Sector V,” said NDITA chairman S A Ahmed.
Apart from the NDITA office, the building will also give space to several IT and IT-enabled services firms. “This will help NDITA earn revenues. The characteristic feature of the building is that it will be eco-friendly. So there will be opportunities for both the green capitalist and green consumer here,” said Bhattacharya. He said two bus terminuses and a food court are also coming up in Sector V.

Source: TNN

a major construction taking place...especially in AA1, Rajarhat
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6471/image0640.jpg

Source (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIKM/2010/04/21&PageLabel=4&EntityId=Ar00401&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T)

Ring road plan in cold storage
Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay | TNN

Kolkata: It was former transport minister Subhas Chakraborty’s dream project: an inner ring road, which would have made the city’s traffic woes a thing of the past. But the road, which was to have been thrown open to traffic in 2015, with the aim of decongesting the city’s inadequate road space, has been sent into cold storage after the government toyed with the idea for one and a half years.
With Chakraborty’s death and the uncertain political atmosphere in the state, it’s uncertain if the project will ever see light of day.
The time over-run leading to escalating costs, the consortiums competing for the bid, too, don’t seem interested in it.
“Subhas Chakraborty, as transport minister, was fond of telling us how the inner and outer ring roads of the city could change the face of the much maligned city, with its increasingly unmanageable traffic,” a transport department official said. “But his dream has now become more distant with his sudden demise,” he rued, adding that it was too difficult to take a decision now in the backdrop of the current political instability, especially as the project involves huge foreign funding.
Current transport minister Ranjit Kundu agreed. “It does not figure in our current priority project list,” he confirmed.
Kolkata’s loss could well turn out to be Dhaka’s gain. One of the consortiums has already got a similar inner ring road project in Dhaka.
In Kolkata, the 42-km-long elevated ring road along the circumference of the city was meant to facilitate an uninterrupted flow of traffic. The state government chose eight companies at the final stage. The bid would have been awarded to the conglomerate of the companies on the basis of their proposals.
The eight construction and financial companies chosen for the project are Tantia, Navayuga Engineering, Srei Capital, Gammond Infrastructure, Italian Thai Development Projects, D S Construction, Hindustan Construction and Larsen & Toubro. At the final stage, the three shortlisted companies are Navyug Construction, ITD of Thailand and a consortium of Srei Infrastructure Finance, Simplex Infrastructure and Sadhbav Engineering.
The city, which is bursting at its seams with an ever-burgeoning vehicular population, was desperate to follow the US model of ring road system to ease the pressure off the central business district. The ring road proposal had even got the approval of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
On the build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, the state government’s financial stake was initially thought to be negligible. But the consortiums participating in the final bidding wanted the government to share Rs 3,369.05 crore of the project cost worth Rs 6586.05 crore. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons behind the state’e backing out, said sources. The companies, which would have constructed the ring road, were to recover the construction cost through imposing a toll of Rs 50 per vehicle over a period of 35 years.
According to the final plan, The proposed ring road would have started somewhere near Prinsep Ghat. It would have gone towards Bagbazar along Strand Road. In between, there would have been a series of access roads for facilitating motorists to go on to the elevated path as well as to get down to the surface level. From Bagbazar, it would have led to Ultadanga and, from there, to E M Bypass. The path would have had several access points for airport-bound traffic. It would have gone towards Park Circus. From the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector, it would have taken a turn towards the west. It would have taken Prince Anwar Shah Road, Tollygunge Circular Road, Taratala Road and Central Garden Reach Road and then to Strand Road to complete the circular alignment.
What was planned?
The 42-km elevated road would have been four to six lane wide, twin flanked and run along the circumference of the city
It would have an automated plaza that would have collected toll on the basis of the distance a car intended to cover. The toll smart card would have had stages of journey encrypted on it, much like Metro Railway tickets
It would have followed a unique construction mechanism, which would have disrupted least traffic and normal life below on the surface road

^^can u xpect nethng bettr dan dis staying in bengal?...the WB govt has no money for clearing road clutter by building a ring road..but dey hv all the resources for legalising hawkers (reffer TOI)who are the main culprits for craeting clutters on roads...bloody BS...vote paane k liye kuch v karega...!:ohno:

A very good morning to all of you...I am a new member to this forum,but have been an ardent follower and admirer of Skyscrapercity and its forums,over the last couple of years. I always had a natural flair for keeping track of the developmental work (of any nature) taking place in any city and I have found Skyscrapercity as to be the best platform for getting in touch with people who have a similar type of fascination about getting updated and letting others do so, regarding these development-work that take place anywhere.

Kolkata is the city,which I have always loved the most and where I have my permanent home,although I have spent a considerable no.of years in Nagpur also. Offlate,while this city has witnessed some major developments after many years of negligence and administrative apathy,but we have also noticed that the political interests of the irresponsible and errant parties out here ,sometimes over-shadow the overall development of the city.

I hope that I would be able to be an active member in posting my findings regarding any aspects affecting the development/progress of Kolkata,on a time to time basis and also be able to actively partcipate in any discussion taking place here..

Hope to get all your encouragement.

Regards,

Sourav

NHAI proposes link kolkata with Dhanbad
TNN

Kolkata: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has come up with a proposal for a six-lane 270 km expressway connecting Kolkata and Dhanbad.A stretch of is to pass through Maoist-hit Bankura and Purulia districts.
NHAI officials recently placed the Kolkata-Dhanbad expressway project proposal before the PWD authorities at a recent meeting at Writers Buildings.The proposed expressway will not have any crossings on its stretch and will run through Arambag,Dankuni,parts of Bankura and Purulia districts and Ghatal before reaching Dhanbad, said state PWD secretary A R Bardhan.There will also be a road connecting the expressway with Haldia.The proposed expressway will create better road connectivity between the areas, said a PWD official.
The Kolkata-Dhanbad expressway will have excellent connectivity with industrial centres like Haldia and Dankuni.Weve requested NHAI to work on it, Bardhan said.Welcoming NHAIs proposal,the state PWD will have to solve out the all-important issue of land acquisition for the expressway once the detailed project report (DPR) and its cost estimate is prepared.
PWD is also working on a plan to construct new roads and bridges to improve connectivity between different national and state highways.

A very warm welcome to SSCI sourav. It seems SSC will be a very appropriate place for you. Looking forward to get development updates as you are currently in the city. Also, as quite a long time SSC forumers my suggestion would to avoid any controversy such as city vs city, country-vs-country etc.. Enjoy.. :cheers:

A very good morning to all of you...I am a new member to this forum,but have been an ardent follower and admirer of Skyscrapercity and its forums,over the last couple of years. I always had a natural flair for keeping track of the developmental work (of any nature) taking place in any city and I have found Skyscrapercity as to be the best platform for getting in touch with people who have a similar type of fascination about getting updated and letting others do so, regarding these development-work that take place anywhere.

Kolkata is the city,which I have always loved the most and where I have my permanent home,although I have spent a considerable no.of years in Nagpur also. Offlate,while this city has witnessed some major developments after many years of negligence and administrative apathy,but we have also noticed that the political interests of the irresponsible and errant parties out here ,sometimes over-shadow the overall development of the city.

I hope that I would be able to be an active member in posting my findings regarding any aspects affecting the development/progress of Kolkata,on a time to time basis and also be able to actively partcipate in any discussion taking place here..

Hope to get all your encouragement.

Regards,

Sourav

Land To Be Handed Over Next Month For Buddha’s Anti-Brain Drain Project

Ajanta Chakraborty | TNN

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/Pc0020900.jpg
The blueprint of the knowledge hub showing the locations of institutions.

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/Pc0021300.jpg
Work underway on a road to the complex

Kolkata: A knowledge hub. That’s the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government’s answer to brain drain. After wooing many of the country’s premier research institutions for the last two years — during which it weathered acquisition protests — the government is now ready to hand over land to them at Baruipur, about 35 km from Kolkata.
The institutes will come at a 140-acre dedicated knowledge city in the 500-acre Baruipur township. The project had run into a land hurdle, but now Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has quietly started creating the township that will house the South 24-Parganas district headquarters. The project cost is Rs 476 crore, of which the district HQ alone will account for Rs 423 crore.
Work for the township’s trunk infrastructure is underway, but the government’s numero uno priority is the knowledge hub. After all, it is the chief minister’s pet project.
In 2008, while laying the township’s foundation in 2008, Bhattacharjee announced: “In the near future, Baruipur will be the finest centre of education.” Concerned that students continue to leave the state for research and higher studies, the chief minister had met representatives of premier central government institutions to get them to agree on setting up their campuses in Bengal. Hence, KMDA is creating the two trunk roads (each 2 km long), across the town. The roads will connect the other highway between Kamalgaji and Baruipur (Padmapukur). The idea is to provide immediate access to institutes like National Institute for Research in Mangrove and Coastal Biosphere (NIRMCB), the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Niper) and Space Application Centre of India Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences (IACS) and Spice Board will now be a part of the knowledge hub. Second campuses of Science City and ISI will also come up.
“Land will be handed over to all these major institutions so that a proper research and development (R&D) hub comes up even before the entire township takes shape,” Vivek Bharadwaj, chief executive officer (CEO), KMDA, said on Thursday. The township, with the district headquarters, district hospital, bus terminals, jail and other components, is likely to be completed in three years.
Next month, DRDO will get 10 acres for specialized research labs in naval, aeronautical, life sciences and other sectors. Niper will get 35 acres.
Asish Banerjee, project director, Niper, said: “We are looking forward to getting the land next month. Bengal badly needs these premier institutes to develop its own human resources encourage students in research-oriented studies. We cannot have bright students leaving the state.”
Niper has been operating temporarily inside the Institute of Chemical Biology (ICB) for the last two years. “Once our centre comes up, the students in the two-year MS (pharm) degree course in 22 streams and those in the PhD course will be able to help in drug development. Again, there will be scope for research that might go a long way in helping those setting up downstream chemical industries at Nayachar,” Banerjee said. Also included in the Niper campus will be dedicated research centres for bio-diversity, oceanology and nanotechnology.

INSTITUTIONS AT KNOWLEDGE HUB
DRDO: 10 acres Mangrove research centre: 15 acres
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences (IACS): 35 acres Spice
Board: 1 acre
ISRO: 2 acres
CSIR: 22 acres
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research: 35 acres
The Energy and Resources Institute: 5 acres
Science City: 10 acres
ISI: 3 acres
Other: 2 acres
Total: 140 acres

LAND-USE PATTERN AT BARUIPUR TOWNSHIP
Bus terminus and bus stop: 6 acres
Police lines and parade ground: 5 acres
District court: 3 acres
Police housing: 3 acres
Multistoreyed govt housing: 3 acres
Police/fire stations: 2 acres
Jail: 8 acres
Circuit house: 2 acres
Officers’ enclave: 7.3 acres
DM office complex: 6.2 acres
SP office: 2 acres
Zilla parishad office: 5 acres
RTO and open space:2 acres
Multi-storied office space: 2 acres
Activities: 14 acres
Services: 5 acres

Hi Saraf,

Thanks for accepting my membership request.I have always been a fan of your posts and whole-heartedly admire your efforts & dedication in extracting news item/information on any development activity taking place in this city/state and posting the same in this forum.

I would try my best, to keep in term with the dedicated approach taken by people like you for this forum.

Regards,

Sourav

BRTS APPROVAL


Fast lane for buses awaits Centre nod



TIMES NEWS NETWORK
April 24,2010



Kolkata: The city’s first busrapid-transit (BRT) system will start along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass as soon as the Centre gives the green light to the project, West Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya told members of Bharat Chamber of Commerce on Friday.
Dedicated lanes for buses with split flyovers at major crossings for uninterrupted traffic flow would need a cost Rs 254 crore for a 20-kilometre stretch on the Bypass from Ultadanga to Garia.
“For this, we will widen the road from the existing six lanes to eight. It would take 20 minutes to reach Garia from Ultadanga,” said Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) CEO Vivek Bharadwaj at the seminar on ‘JNNURM: empowering the development of Kolkata’.
The Centre may contribute 35% of the project cost if it is accepted under JNNURM. The state will contribute 35%, while the rest would come from KMDA, whose jurisdiction covers the 1851 sqkm of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.

I really dont think BRT is the way for Kolkata.EM Bypass is already running at capacity,it should use the 2 extra lanes to for normal traffic.Not to mention construct underpasses and flyovers at all major intersection to create a high speed corridor.

But,do you really think that by merely adding 2/3 extra lanes along the existing road-length of EM Bypass,would help in handling the huge volume of traffic on this stretch? Offlate,Bypass has become one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city,but sadly it gets the minimum level of upkeep and new development. Whenever the issue of developing this corridor has been raised up in recent past,the authority had restricted its role in just increasing the width by few meters, on both the sides and erecting some new traffic signals.
Today,the entire stretch from Ultadanga to Garia, is characterised by uneven road surface filled up with potholes, minimal amount of road infrastructure (no proper lane marking/ well marked divider/bright street lamps) and not to forget about the ever-increasing ''encroachments on both sides...unless and untill,any comprehensive development project like BRTS is taken up,this road is never going to see proper development. Seeing the rising number of bus-routes on this road,BRTS may prove to be a good solution for handling the traffic and minimizing the accidents. well,one thing definitely needs to be assured by the Govt,that if BRTS is implemented ,it has to pay attention to its proper maintenance thenafter (which is a forgotten concept in most of the projects here in Bengal)!

I agree with avishar that additional lanes are required to handle the ever increasing volumes of traffic along this key traffic lifeline of Kolkata. However the concern on the quality of the road surface pointed by Sourav is quite serious. The state govt admitted in the past that they do not have the money to even put a coat of mastic asphalt on this stretch. They would do so if center approved the BRT and handled a portion of the costs. So, the BRT approval from the center is only way out. I frankly feel ashamed to take my car out on this stretch especially from Parama island and southwards.

The stretch needs flyovers for sure in order to provide hassle free traffic movement. Two immediate ones are required at Ruby, Chingrahata(over the existing one).

@sourav, @arijeet & @avisar: add to that overpasses and hawkers free zone...especially the strech from Anandapur to Picinic Gardens
Now my point, hw can the govt or rader the admin still claim it to be a high speed coridor...where any given day one can spot people moving on bicycles and cycle rickshaws..both goods and passenger(from highland park-patuli)..also hw can v forget the autos...:ohno:
also there are around 20 signals on the entire strech (excluding extention) from Dhalai Bridge(garia) to Hudco(ultadanga) if the count is not wrong...IMO its even worse than CR Avenue!

Source: TNN

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Saturday launched a pilot project to instal LED streetlights along nine important roads of the city. With this, Kolkata finds itself in an elite league of cities undertaking a global LED trial programme.
Besides KMC, the project is being carried out by the Union government’s Bureau of Energy
Efficiency (BEE), West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB). The global LED programme is being run by an international non-profit organisation — The Climate Group.
As part of the project, 350-odd LED lights will be installed along nine important stretches, including Alipore Road, Belvedere Road, Bondel Gate flyover and others. “The total project cost is Rs 1.33 crore and the lights will be installed in the next one and a half months. About 40%-50% of energy will be saved by using LED streetlights,” said KMC member mayor-in-council (lights) Sushil Sharma.
Mayor Bikash Bhattacharyya said saving electricity was a big challenge. “I have been repeatedly trying to develop the practice of keeping lights and fans switched off as much as possible in the KMC building to save energy, but have not been able to succeed. I have also been urging my officials that something should be done to prevent misuse of energy,” he added.
The mayor stressed that the city’s lighting arrangements needed to be revamped. “I have once had the experience of hearing a cuckoo sing as early at 3 am. This is because the cuckoos are being affected by the huge sodium vapour lights. It is also a major cause for concern that streetlights often continue to remain switched on after dawn. We are spending crores every month on electricity supply. By conserving some amount of energy, we can save about Rs 1 crore. This money could then be used for other civic welfare services,” the mayor said.
With the launch of the LED project, Kolkata joins a select group of cities such as New York, London, Hong Kong, Toronto and Shanghai in the HSBC Climate Partnership-funded global programme. It is the first Indian city to be part of the league.
“The Climate Group contacted us in July 2009. We then held a series of meetings before taking a decision on having the project here,” said Sharma.

Why does the west bengal government always have to think of fancy solutions like elevated ring roads and canal based transportation system? Just build something simple and effective.

The EM bypass master plan.
1.From ultodanga to atleast hiland park intersection create continous 6-six lane roads and at places 10 lanes.
2.Lay the roads according to NHAI standards using asphalt laying machines.Not even mastic asphalt is required.
3.Proper-lane marking again NHAI standards.
4.Create it as a high speed corridor with minimal stops.
5.Ultodanga end already has a flyover under construction.
6.All major intersections need overpasses,right turn left turn flyovers so that traffic isnt stuck going around huge roundabouts
7.Chingrihata needs more flyovers,swabhumi,parama island is already after construction,ruby needs flyovers,prince anwar shaw connector intersection.

And build all of this in one go,not haphazardly,they can take 2-4 yrs but to build it starting from one end till the another and for once do a good job!

Where will the money come from?.They are selling land beside the bypass at exhorbitant rates.There is the money.

Why does the west bengal government always have to think of fancy solutions like elevated ring roads and canal based transportation system?

A huge chunk of Kolkata's transport and other problems is because laws of the land are not enforced. The administration is afraid to enforce laws because it cannot control the culture of mobocracy and corruption that the Left parties and the Opposition have nurtured over the last few decades. These people cannot build a road that wont be washed away by rains or get damaged by overloaded heavy vehicles that ply the roads after bribing the police and the parar dadas.

Since the adminsitration cannot do the simple things, they come up with grand plans like elevated ring road, flying gondolas, monorails etc. The babus have to be busy with something at least. So they make these plans with blessings of the politburo, most of which end up in some file in the rat infested Writers' building.

Land To Be Handed Over Next Month For Buddha’s Anti-Brain Drain Project



Only our silly media houses and journalists can come up with such sensational terms "anti brain drain project".

:lol:

BTW near the media declared "ABDP" (Anti Brain Drain Project) there will be a new project

Kolkata South Universal City

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7388/kolkatasouthuniversal.jpg (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/kolkatasouthuniversal.jpg/)

http://www.nkrealtors.com/viewDetails.php?ProId=100

There was probably no need for that sailboat.

A huge chunk of Kolkata's transport and other problems is because laws of the land are not enforced. The administration is afraid to enforce laws because it cannot control the culture of mobocracy and corruption that the Left parties and the Opposition have nurtured over the last few decades. These people cannot build a road that wont be washed away by rains or get damaged by overloaded heavy vehicles that ply the roads after bribing the police and the parar dadas.

Since the adminsitration cannot do the simple things, they come up with grand plans like elevated ring road, flying gondolas, monorails etc. The babus have to be busy with something at least. So they make these plans with blessings of the politburo, most of which end up in some file in the rat infested Writers' building.

I fully agree with Suncity.Corruption exists everywhere in the world & ofcourse, in India.But in Bengal,the impact of corruption and political hooliganism has such deep roots, that now the administration is unable to even come up with simple solutions for any existing problem like maintaining the city-roads ! Where else in the world,the law makers join hands in giving the illegal,a 'legal' status,just for the sake of strengthening their vote banks?? A city which was already crying for more space on the road/footpath,has recently been robbed of its last few vacant footpaths by none other than its own Corporation,by giving the hawkers the legal status to do their business anywhere in the city!! but,in response to this,not a single other political party had come up to raise their voice against this extreme irrresposible decision by the state govt and there also the single factor that played major role once again,is the vote-bank!

The responsibity of upkeep of Bypass lies with KMDA,which has never been able to maintain roads and other infrastructure in the areas under its jurisdiction,forget a long stretch like Bypass! I always wondered that why the city roads can't be made on the same standards as of NHAI,specially the stretch from the Airport to the main city centre,but now know that, it would never be possible under the existing authority which has got caught in its own web of political hooliganism and ever-rising corruption levels...

Where else in the world,the law makers join hands in giving the illegal,a 'legal' status,just for the sake of strengthening their vote banks?? A city which was already crying for more space on the road/footpath,has recently been robbed of its last few vacant footpaths by none other than its own Corporation,by giving the hawkers the legal status to do their business anywhere in the city!! but,in response to this,not a single other political party had come up to raise their voice against this extreme irrresposible decision by the state govt and there also the single factor that played major role once again,is the vote-bank!



Votebank politics is based on 'insecurity' - economic, social etc. No political party in Bengal - left, right or center (and maybe this is true for other parts of India) will ever create a climate of security be it economic or social. If they do, then there will be no votebanks remaining to exploit.

All political parties, Bengal's pseudo intellectual brigade, militant groups like Maoists and their suave frontal organizations are supposedly fighting for the poor and the deprived. But apart from creating chaos, confusion and violence they have done close to nothing.

If people get food to eat twice a day, if they have ownership of the roof over their head, if they have job opportunities, why would people need the Mamata Bannerjees or Buddhadeb Bhattcharjees or Arundhati Rays or masked Andhra militants?

The mantra of success is to keep people poor and insecure and exploit their weaknesses to ride to the throne.

TMC, Kolkata

A touching video - hopefully selfish politicians and self declared intellectuals will not stand in the way of this project

YEZpHdYXoTU

^^i dont think that at least in our Kolkata forum there is not a single politician..even f there had been...still there wouldn't have been any effect..because they only know 2 things:
1. how to earn more from the common man so that the netas wishes are fulfilled, and
2. if there is nothing to do call for a bandh or oppose for anything under the sun!

Maruti seeks land for stockyard
TNN

Kolkata: Maruti Suzuki is scouting for a 25-acre plot near Kolkata to set up a stockyard that will serve the eastern region.The need for the facility follows substantial time lag between booking and delivery in several of its popular models that has led to customers migrating to competitors.Currently,the waiting period on premium hatchback Ritz,multi-purpose van Eeco and entrylevel sedan Dzire ranges from one to four months in Kolkata.
Company sources said a decision had been taken to set up regional stockyards that would have a large inventory of cars.This will substantially reduce shipment time to dealers in the region as vehicles will be dispatched form Kolkata and not Gurgaon or Manesar that are another 1,200 km away.
Apart from Kolkata,the carmaker is also scouting for similar parcels of land near Bangalore in the south and Mumbai or Pune in the west.We plan to decentralize our warehousing in Gurgaon and move to a hub-and-spoke system by setting up regional stockyards.This will reduce delivery time and help the manufacturing division schedule their production better, the source said.
Maruti Suzuki is also on the lookout for space to set up a model showroom in the city where its entire product range will be displayed.While the company currently has only one model showroom in Delhi,it proposes to set up 15 more showrooms of the kind in all regional office locations.The investment in the stockyard and showrooms network is pegged around Rs 200 crore.
The countrys largest carmaker is also undertaking a major production de-bottlenecking exercise to churn out more numbers from its capacity constrained plants at Gurgaon and Manesar.With the new plant at the latter location not expected before two years,the bottlenecking exercise is critical for the company to produce more and hold on to a 50%-plus marketshare.
The two Maruti Suzuki plants in Gurgaon and Manesar have a combined installed capacity of 800,000 cars but produced a million units last fiscal.

Hospital on growth path

Belur Sramajibi Hospital will set up a medical college and a 500-bed multi-speciality hospital in Serampore, Hooghly, as part of its Rs 100-crore expansion programme.

The 80-bed hospital off GT Road in Belur will keep functioning even after the Serampore facility is ready.

“We will buy a 75-bigha plot in Serampore for the expansion, which will also include setting up of a school, old age home and a centre for terminally ill patients. The first phase will be completed by 2011,” said Anil Saha, the secretary of the Belur Sramajibi Swasthya Prakalpa Samity. The first phase of the hospital will have 200 beds and will cost Rs 10 crore.

The entire project, including the 50-seat medical college, will be ready in five years, said Saha. “The funds are being raised through donations. We are not approaching any corporate house, or even the state or central government, for the money,” said a hospital official.

The hospital authorities said 20 per cent of the beds in the new hospital would be free. “As for the other patients, the cost of treatment would be one-fourth of that of corporate hospitals,” said the official.

Students of the medical college — the authorities will soon apply for registration to the Medical Council of India — will be selected through the joint entrance examination. Bright but poor students won’t face any problem studying at the institute, the authorities said.

“Unlike in other private medical colleges, there will be no capitation fees here. There are a number of students who qualify the JEE but can’t study MBBS because of financial constraints. They will be given a chance to study here,” said oncologist Subir Ganguly, who is supporting the Sramajibi Hospital team.
http://www.haata.com/tag/hospital-on-growth-path/

At least something good happened during the Politburo backed strike...

Hartal puts work in fast lane

TOI epaper

Kolkata Traffic Police's road marking department had a busy Tuesday as the city observed a total shutdown. Taking advantage of the sparse traffic and little pedestrian movement, the whiteline department' carried out lane-marking work on AJC Bose Road, one of the busiest arterial roads in the city.

"It's an ideal day to cordon off a flank and mark out lanes. We've been wanting to do lane markings on this stretch but haven't been able to because it has heavy traffic all day. Even at night, movement of trucks are high," OC (whiteline) Kanai Lal Khan said while supervising the painting of lanes between the Park Street and Theatre Road intersections.

Getting the dozen-odd men assembled for the job was not easy though. Several had been drafted into law-and-order duties on Monday due the difficult traffic situation following rallies by Left parties.

"Most of the boys worked till late in the night and needed rest. But we realised the opportunity to draw lanes on AJC Bose Road would be lost if we didn't work on Tuesday. Therefore, I got them picked up from their home. I am glad that none of them are complaining," Khan said.

Additional CP-III K Harirajan credited Khan for seizing the opportunity and scheduling the paint job on hartal day.

Incidentally, the police have recruited 21 painters exclusively for the job and will not be assigned law and order duty. The department has bought five US-made mechanised machines that spray paint on the road and allow uniform marking even when road surface is uneven.

Hi, Greetings everyone who still love the best city in the whole world, my birthplace Kolkata.

Another attack on the dying city and the image of Kolkata. Anyways we educated, middle class people are minority here in Kolkata and autowallahs, illegal hawkers and immigrants rule the roost.(all a game of numbers). No wonder people flee at the slightest opportunity.

And what option do we have? An option to overthrow the red brigade and bring in "didi and her company of terrorists and jobless culturals". As outlook article said some years ago, "Bengal is dead, long live Bengalis"

Full Page ads and exclusive publicity campaigns in today's TOI-Kolkata Edition

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIKM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1272432532031

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIKM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1272433025390

Some of the future developments,as foreseen in the URBANA ad-campaigns,seem to very nice and promising specially for the areas near Ruby Hospital.....although I don't have any knowledge about the basis of this news item and what would be the final ground reality of these 'expected' developments!

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIKM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1272433588703

Tata Housing to launch 10 new residential projects
(Also in Kolkata)
ET
NEW DELHI: Tata Housing today said it is planning to launch about 10 new residential projects in both affordable and luxury segments in 2010-11, with an investment of about Rs 1,200 crore along with its partners.

"We will acquire about 10 million sq ft of land in this fiscal, in which we will launch the new projects. While some projects will be developed with our joint venture partners, some will be standalone projects," Tata Housing Development Company Managing Director and CEO Brotin Banerjee told PTI.

The company will roll out the projects in different cities, like Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bangalore, he added.

Tata Housing develops residential properties of four different economic categories - ultra luxury (Rs 3-7 crore), premium (Rs 80 lakh-Rs 2.5 crore), affordable (Rs 15-50 lakh) and value homes (sub Rs 10 lakh).

"We usually tie up with some small local partners, who have the land. The investment is also shared accordingly. To develop these 10 million sq ft, we will require about Rs 1,200 crore," Banarjee said.

When asked about the source of funding, he said it will be a mix of internal accruals, debt and sales revenue.

At present, the company is building about 10,000 housing units comprising 18-20 million sq ft across the country.

Banerjee said most of the projects are being developed in partnership and about Rs 2,000 crore is being invested for completion of the projects by 2011.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/Tata-Housing-to-launch-10-new-residential-projects/articleshow/5867912.cms

Some of the future developments,as foreseen in the URBANA ad-campaigns,seem to very nice and promising specially for the areas near Ruby Hospital.....although I don't have any knowledge about the basis of this news item and what would be the final ground reality of these 'expected' developments!

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIKM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1272433588703

^^yes, they are doing a lot of marketing for sure and why not? Urbana will be an example of one of the kind large scale luxury in Kolkata. With the approval of BRTS, I hope they construct the Ruby flyover and also widen the bypass to 8 lanes all through.

TechM to expand BPO operations in state
Close To Buying 75K Sq Ft Of Prime Space In City
ET KOLKATA

TECH Mahindra,the telecom software arm of the Mahindra Group,is expanding its BPO operations in West Bengal.It is close to snapping up nearly 75,000 sq ft of prime floor space at the upmarket DLF Towers in Rajarhat tech town in the eastern fringes of Kolkata.
Talks between Tech Mahindra and the DLF Group are at an advanced stage and floor space is likely to be taken on long-term lease at roughly Rs 30 per sq ft,two people privy to the talks said.
The latest 75,000 sq ft acquisition in DLF Tower II will be in addition to the 50,000 sq ft that Tech Mahindra took on lease last year in DLF Tower I for launching its 1,000-seater contact centre in the city.
Tech Mahindra is silent on its latest bid to acquire more space at DLF Towers or its BPO business expansion plans.In response to a detailed questionnaire,a Tech Mahindra spokesman said: We are in the quiet period owing to the financial results on April 30,2010.We will not be able to comment.
DLF honchos did not comment on deal specifics,but said Tech Mahindras move to take commercial office space on lease in Kolkata and Pune clearly indicated that demand for IT space is on the rise and companies are increasingly trying to conclude contracts.All this means that the countrys real estate market is reviving, said a senior DLF executive.
But the property market grapevine has it that both DLF and Tech Mahindra may have entered into an agreement with an FRR (First Right of Refusal) clause a clause which allows a lessee to expand its operations at the same premises and at the same commercial rates in near future.This,however,could not be officially confirmed by either Tech Mahindra or the DLF Group.
At present,Tech Mahindra runs five national BPO units in Noida,Chennai,Gurgaon,Pune and Kolkata.This apart,it runs two offshore centres in Belfast and Newcastle.Tech Mahindra has over 4,000 employees operating at its five BPO units in India and another 500-odd in Northern Ireland and South Tyneside in the UK.Close to 1,000-odd techies work at its Kolkata contact centre.The company is unwilling to discuss its expansion plans in the east at this point.
The companys Rajarhat BPO operation essentially handles outsourcing work for telecom clients based in the Asia-Pacific and Africa and not those based in the UK or Europe.
In recent times,Tech Mahindras city operation executed a string of mega telecom outsourcing contracts for South Africas MTN,UAEs Etisalat and Saudi Telecom.
While it developed advanced business intelligence solutions for MTNs Nigerian operation,it is also doing a sizeable chunk of systems integration work for Etisalat and Saudi Telecoms greenfield rollouts in India and Bahrain,respectively.

http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/28223507/Emaar-DLF-shelve-plans-to-bui.html
Emaar, DLF shelve plans to build luxury hotels in Kolkata

Kolkata: Real estate developers Emaar MGF Land Ltd and DLF Ltd have dumped plans to build luxury hotels in Kolkata, four years after buying land at steep prices.

In April 2006, Emaar MGF won in an auction a 99-year lease for a 5.6-acre plot on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, an arterial road connecting the city to the airport, for around Rs190 crore.

It was then a record price paid for a property in Kolkata.

Emaar MGF had said it would build on this plot leased out to it by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), a civic body, two luxury hotels under the JW Marriott and Holiday Inn brands.

Three months later, DLF secured on lease at an auction on the same road a 5.5-acre plot from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for Rs155 crore. It said it would build in four years a 16-storey hotel under the Hilton brand.

In 2007-08, Emaar MGF got a lease for an undisclosed amount another property in the heart of Kolkata from the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. It had proposed to build there a 227-room hotel under the Park Hyatt brand.

Emaar MGF said in a letter sent to KMDA recently that it wanted to shelve its plans to build luxury hotels and instead build a business hotel and service apartments there.

“The prevailing average room rent (ARR) for the luxury segment is Rs6,000-7,000 (a night) with occupancy level at 50-55%, whereas our project will need ARR of Rs10,000-11,000 and occupancy of 65-75% to be cash neutral,” Emaar MGF said in its letter to KMDA, which Mint has reviewed.

DLF, too, has told KMC recently it does not want to build a luxury hotel on the plot that it has secured from it on lease, and that it now wishes to build an upscale condominium, according to KMC commissioner Arnab Ray.

“Our legal cell is examining DLF’s revised proposal,” he added.

The problems cited by Emaar MGF aren’t specific to Kolkata alone, according to Sanjay Dutt, chief executive officer (business) at Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, a property consultant.

“Emaar MGF appears to be reviewing its strategy for its hotel business to ensure adequate return on investment,” he said. “Last year, many developers shelved plans to build hotels and switched to residential projects, as these yield better cash flow in the short term.”

“The company continues to evaluate its development plans and may implement changes in the future based on market demands,” an Emaar MGF spokesperson said.

DLF declined to comment.

If a hotel project costs upwards of Rs1 crore a room, the developer would typically seek ARR of around Rs10,000, said Akshay Kulkarni, executive director (hospitality services) at Cushman and Wakefield, another real estate consultancy.

Both Dutt and Kulkarni said they did not expect ARR for luxury hotels in Kolkata to rise to Emaar MGF’s expectations in the foreseeable future.

romita.d@livemint.com

Regarding the number of 5 star hotel rooms,kolkata isnt even a patch on the other metros.i was of the opinion that hotels in kolkata have higher than industry average occupancy and room rates.Where other metros are adding an average of 1 5 star hotel a year,Swissotel is first new 5 star hotel after like 5 years!

Oh well they better construct 50 storey condominiums then! All their sins will be forgiven.:)

Aegis to look after Uninors city operations
ET KOLKATA


UNITECH Wireless,the telecom joint venture (JV) between Norways Telenor Group and Delhis Unitech Group,has teamed up with Essar-controlled Aegis to manage its customer services operations in the Kolkata,West Bengal and Orissa circles.
Unitech Wireless,which rolled out telecom services under the Uninor brand last year,is gearing up to launch services in the Kolkata and West Bengal circles by June.
Aegis already manages our customer service function in a few other circles where weve launched operations, said Unitech Wireless executive vicepresident Akash Das,who will steer the Orissa,West Bengal and Kolkata rollouts of brand Uninor.
For Kolkata,West Bengal and Orissa circles,Aegis will form a separate team that will handle all customer queries in these circles, he said.
Mr Das,however,declined to share the number of seats which Aegis will have to manage for Unitech Wireless business in these three circles.All I can say is that it will be as per our market estimates, he said.
Unitech Wireless on Thursday opened its Kolkata hub office in the citys tech zone at Salt Lake Sector V.The office will manage the companys operations in Kolkata,West Bengal and Orissa circles and will employ some 300 people.It employs some 2,500 people across the nation who manage operations in the eight telecom circles where Uninor is already operational.
Unitech Wireless subscriber base has also touched 3.6 million within three months of its launch in these eight circles.Apart from Kolkata and West Bengal,we also plan to roll out in Mumbai,Gujarat and Rajasthan by this quarter.We are also rolling our data services in the existing circles and will launch them simultaneously in these new circles, said Mr Das.
Unitech Wireless also plans to tie up with mobile phone manufacturers to roll out bundled handset deals for consumers.We are talking to all the leading handset makers,including the smartphones like the Nokia top-end models.But details are yet to be frozen, said Mr Das.

Regarding the number of 5 star hotel rooms,kolkata isnt even a patch on the other metros.i was of the opinion that hotels in kolkata have higher than industry average occupancy and room rates.Where other metros are adding an average of 1 5 star hotel a year,Swissotel is first new 5 star hotel after like 5 years!

Oh well they better construct 50 storey condominiums then! All their sins will be forgiven.:)

^^the news on Emaar and DLF shelving their luxury plans may prove to be a blessing in disguise. In today's economy and given Kolkata's uncertain political situation, it probably makes sense to go for good quality business and budget hotels with ARR<2000 per night. And why look at residential options alone? The land sizes are large enough to build a 20 storey IT park on the lines of Infinity Benchmark.

^^the news on Emaar and DLF shelving their luxury plans may prove to be a blessing in disguise. In today's economy and given Kolkata's uncertain political situation, it probably makes sense to go for good quality business and budget hotels with ARR<2000 per night. And why look at residential options alone? The land sizes are large enough to build a 20 storey IT park on the lines of Infinity Benchmark.

Emaar has proposed a business hotel + service apartments in place of the luxury hotels.

DLF has proposed building of luxury condominiums.

With the expansion of ITC Sonar, three large additional luxury hotels in this area doesn't make sense.

Emaar has proposed a business hotel + service apartments in place of the luxury hotels.

DLF has proposed building of luxury condominiums.

With the expansion of ITC Sonar, three large additional luxury hotels in this area doesn't make sense.

^^yes, I agree. And this could be the real reason - having to compete with an established brand like Sonar that is already constructing the 26 storey tower; Also Novotel, Westin and Swissotel are not very far away!

I only wish though that they come up with sleek commercial options in their plots.

I only wish though that they come up with sleek commercial options in their plots.

Me too.

Baruipur (South 24 Paraganas District HQ) plan (Saraf had posted one earlier)

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/9665/baruipurcbdplan451s.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/i/baruipurcbdplan451s.jpg/)

^^a major part of the project (as seen in the above mentioned map) is earmarked for commercial purposes!!...btw when is its due date for completion...also can see plans for future developements...lets just hope it doesnt turn out to be a 2nd rajarhat!
one more point of concern...couldnt see any area earmarked for residential (govt) purposes...which is there in all dist capitals...

^^the news on Emaar and DLF shelving their luxury plans may prove to be a blessing in disguise. In today's economy and given Kolkata's uncertain political situation, it probably makes sense to go for good quality business and budget hotels with ARR<2000 per night. And why look at residential options alone? The land sizes are large enough to build a 20 storey IT park on the lines of Infinity Benchmark.

its really sad to know that both the developers have turned down their luxury hotel plans...:(...however according to the article they will build a budget hotel in near future...i would like to highlight an observation which i made while being in other metros...i have seen luxury hotels built next to one another in @least 3 metro cities...and two tourist importance cities...and those hotels are running full occupancy...and turning down guests or transfering them to other hotels...ITC hotels are already having two properties in Kol..and two more u/c..Taj group is having one and another u/c..but the drawbacks are there is not a single transit hotel in the city...and two hotels that were to come up in rajarhat is still in drawing boards!!...every newspaper is mentioning that markets have recovered still the hotels are highlighting the same point..it simply means that they are not interested in setting up property in Kolkata!Its a high time that the developers/real estate companies should shift their focus from building appartments/malls to hotel properties!...we lack big brands at least in this field..!
the same meghraj agency had few months ago mentioned in a news daily that in Kolkata during the winter months hotels are running in full occupancy and there is an urgent need of rooms...!
An interesting fact: hotels like Hyatt Regency and ITC Sonar have ARR of INR 7500 (2008-09) while Oberoi is 6000, Park: 5500, Taj: 7000...(all of the same period)
(the ARR figures mentioned above is subject to change)

cc: The Telegraph

A new pocket of resistance has risen in Rajarhat, preventing sewer and water lines from being laid on land allegedly acquired cheap to create infrastructure for highrise projects in which some apartments flaunt Rs 1 crore price tags.

If villagers of Chhapna have kept action areas II and III of the showpiece New Town township in the dark — literally — for two years, residents of nearby Baliguri under Patharghata panchayat have vowed not to let Hidco lay water and sewer lines until they are paid more for their land.

“We want Rs 5 lakh a cottah,” demanded farmer Jan Mohammed, whose nine-bigha plot was “acquired” by the government at Rs 13,500 a cottah in 2002-03.

Mohammed and his family are among the 30 households of Baliguri who have refused to part with their plots for anything less than the current market price despite their land officially ceasing to be theirs seven years ago.

“Flats are being sold for a crore and Hidco wants us to settle for only Rs 13,500 a cottah? That’s unfair,” said Mohammed, pointing towards a highrise project for NRIs that stands adjacent to his plot.

“We will chase them away every time they come here,” added Fazlul Haq, whose family owns several plots.

Hidco needs the disputed 60 bighas to lay water and drainage pipes connecting a clutch of big ticket realty projects, including Uniworld City, Rosedale, Ecospace and Greenwood.

None of the 30 families that together own the 60-bigha zone has yet accepted a rupee from Hidco, prompting the government to deposit the originally fixed compensation amount with the court. Land-acquisition rules provide little scope for revision of compensation once it is fixed, an official said.

Hidco general manager Prodyut Biswas put up a brave front, saying work would resume soon. “The land was acquired in 2002-03 at rates prevailing at the time. So technically the plots no longer belong to the so-called landowners,” he insisted.

In Chhapna, barely 1.5km away, Hidco had struck a deal with a realty company having high stakes in the township to pay Rs 2 lakh a cottah each to farmers whose land was required to set up electricity towers. The villagers pressured those who were offered money to back out of the deal, saying they could accept the revised amount only if all other landowners were similarly compensated.

“Chhapna has been a headache for two years and now we have Baliguri. How can New Town fulfil its promise if something as basic as electricity and water supply cannot be provided?” rued a Hidco official.

So desperate is Hidco that it has even tried setting up electricity towers at Chhapna in the dead of night, hoping work would be over by the time the villagers woke up. The last such attempt, on January 31, had culminated in Hidco workers and the police team guarding them being chased away by villagers after they got wind of the hush-hush operation.

Housing minister Gautam Deb had recently accused Mamata Banerjee of “holding up” New Town’s development, saying she was refusing to co-operate with the government in resolving the land-price dispute.

“The Chhapna crisis took birth when the Patharghata panchayat changed hands from the CPM to the Trinamul Congress in 2008. Now power is in the hands of the landowners,” said Nilotpal Dutta, the secretary of the Rajarhat Jomi Bachao Committee.

So where does that leave the builder and the buyer? “Many projects are almost ready but the buyers cannot move in because there is no electricity, drinking water and drainage. The impasse has also reinforced Bengal’s anti-development image,” said a realtor.

Residents of Chhapna and Baliguri claim their plots were acquired by force. “Hidco officials came here with policemen and CPM supporters to dump truckloads of mud on our farmland,” said a landowner.

Hospital debut in July

Source: The Telegraph

An upcoming hospital off the Bypass that has changed hands from Wockhardt to Fortis is likely to be commissioned in July after being delayed by more than a year.

The Rs 150-crore hospital in Anandapur is coming up on a two-and-a-half-acre plot. It is one of the three Wockhardt Hospitals properties in India that the Fortis Healthcare chain had bought last year.

“Construction, stalled for 14 months, resumed in January. The first phase with 200 beds will be ready in July,” said Vishal Bali, the chief executive of Fortis Hospitals. “The entire 400-bed unit will be completed by next year,” he said.

Cardiology, neurology and gastroenterology are among the departments the new hospital will have. There will be facilities for minimally invasive surgeries and haepatobiliary surgeries, including liver transplant.
Top

Haldia highway: Govt seeks central funds

Kolkata: The much-hyped Eastern Expressway that will connect Barasat to Haldia via a bridge across the Hooghly at Raichak may yet see the light of day. The state government has written to the Centre for funds and help to lay the road.
The ambitious project had been conceived at the peak of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrial drive, but was shelved in 2008 after it faced stiff local opposition over land acquisition.
The expressway will start from Barasat in North 24-Parganas and meet Diamond Harbour Road near Usthi (South 24-Parganas) before turning towards Raichak. a bridge across the Hooghly will connect it to Kukrahati in East Midnapore, from where it will lead to Haldia.
As there is no existing highway on this alignment, it is going to be a greenfield project. The survey for the approach road to the bridge has already been completed by the state. There are also proposals to link the expressway with Dankuni and the Petrapole border, so that traders can access Haldia port from the rest of India as well as Bangladesh.
The four-lane expressway will help boost infrastructure as it will connect Kolkata and south Bengal through a link up to Kulpi.
The state government had earlier given the job of constructing the highway to the Indonesia-based Salim group before protests over land acquisition took an ugly turn. Even land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah had criticised the move to acquire land from farmers.
Now, in a frantic bid to showcase some development projects before the 2011 assembly polls, the state government has written to the ministry of road, transport and highways for funds. State PWD minister Kshiti Goswami has also spoken to Kamal Nath, the Union minister of road, transport and highways.
Senior state officials have also held talks with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), so that the authority takes the initiative to lay the expressway on build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode.
A senior official of the land department said that the reason for selecting NHAI was that a central authority would face less local opposition than a private operator in buying land.
The official said that the NHAI had been asked to acquire 44 metres along the expressway’s alignment, while Salim group had asked for a much wider breadth — and more land — for the road.

April 2010

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/992/14042010648.jpg

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/3355/14042010662.jpg

April 2010

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2820/23042010712.jpg

April 2010

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/503/23042010705.jpg

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/2853/23042010702.jpg

This is across Shukhobrishti, DLF heights?

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/3550/14042010652.jpg

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/3476/01052010752.jpg

Great shots again Vegchop. :cheers:

Coast Guard to set up Kolkata office

Times of India


New Delhi: The Coast Guard will soon establish new regional headquarters in Kolkata for securing the north-eastern coast of the country, its director general Vice Admiral Anil Chopra said on Thursday.
To be called the Regional Headquarters (North East), it would be the fifth regional office of the coastal security force, Chopra said addressing the Coast Guard Operational Commanders conference that concluded here.
“The proposal (to establish the regional headquarters in Kolkata) is under the consideration of government,” he said.
The existing regional headquarters are in Gandhinagar (North West), Mumbai (West), Chennai (East) and Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), besides the national headquarters in New Delhi.
Chopra said the Coast Guard also proposed to set up additional stations at appropriate locations all along India’s 7,500-km-long coastline. The two-day conference also took stock of the changing maritime scenario and the operational tempo post 26/11 in order to impact and sequence the various expansion plans and derive an updated operational philosophy so as to optimise the Coast Guard operations, a defence ministry press release said.
At the conference, the DG highlighted the rapid progress made by the coastal security force in the preceding year with respect to ship acquisition, induction of manpower and development of infrastructure.
An Offshore Patrol Vessel and two Interceptor Boats were recently commissioned to augment the surface surveillance capabilities of the Coast Guard. PTI

Very nice updates, vegchop:cheers:

DLF and emaar has announced that they will cancel the hotel projects in the city,and SELL the land which they had bought.

DLF and emaar has announced that they will cancel the hotel projects in the city,and SELL the land which they had bought.

source, please?

source, please?

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5901059.cms

BANGALORE: The capital-intensive nature and long gestation periods of hospitality projects are forcing real estate developers to rethink such ventures.

While DLF has decided to sell about 7.5 acres of land in Kolkata and Gurgaon after scrapping plans to build luxury hotels there, Emaar MGF Land is putting on the block about 5.6 acres on Kolkata’s outskirts, four years after buying the land for a whopping Rs 190 crore.

“We are not pursuing hospitality projects aggressively and plan to sell land where we do not see a project coming up on time,” said a senior DLF official with knowledge of the development. However, he refused to comment on the specifics of the proposed land sale.

DLF is said to be in talks with Duet Groups India for the sale of its two-acre plot in Cyber City, Gurgaon. It had secured the Kolkata plot on lease in an auction from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for Rs 155 crore and had plans to build a 16-storey hotel under the Hilton brand at an investment of Rs 900 crore. The hotel was expected to be operational by 2010.

Emaar MGF had also won the land from the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) in an auction. It had proposed to build four hotels in and around Kolkata, including three luxury hotels — JW Marriott and Holiday Inn on the EM Bypass and Park Hyatt at Russell Street at an investment of Rs 1,300 crore.

“We do not wish to comment on market speculation, but the company continues to evaluate its development plans and take suitable steps in line with market conditions,” an Emaar MGF spokesperson said.

Early this year, DLF had sold two land parcels in Mysore too, where it was expected to take up hospitality projects.

The company plans to raise Rs 900 crore by selling eight hotel plots across Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Baroda, Lucknow, Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) and Sikkim by June-end.

According to commercial real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield, both DLF and Emaar are revisiting their earlier plans and are developing hotels only at specific locations. “We will see specific cases where firms will look at exiting the hotel business,” said Akshay Kulkarni, executive director, hospitality services, Cushman & Wakefield.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5901059.cms

BANGALORE: The capital-intensive nature and long gestation periods of hospitality projects are forcing real estate developers to rethink such ventures.

While DLF has decided to sell about 7.5 acres of land in Kolkata and Gurgaon after scrapping plans to build luxury hotels there, Emaar MGF Land is putting on the block about 5.6 acres on Kolkata’s outskirts, four years after buying the land for a whopping Rs 190 crore.

“We are not pursuing hospitality projects aggressively and plan to sell land where we do not see a project coming up on time,” said a senior DLF official with knowledge of the development. However, he refused to comment on the specifics of the proposed land sale.

DLF is said to be in talks with Duet Groups India for the sale of its two-acre plot in Cyber City, Gurgaon. It had secured the Kolkata plot on lease in an auction from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for Rs 155 crore and had plans to build a 16-storey hotel under the Hilton brand at an investment of Rs 900 crore. The hotel was expected to be operational by 2010.

Emaar MGF had also won the land from the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) in an auction. It had proposed to build four hotels in and around Kolkata, including three luxury hotels — JW Marriott and Holiday Inn on the EM Bypass and Park Hyatt at Russell Street at an investment of Rs 1,300 crore.

“We do not wish to comment on market speculation, but the company continues to evaluate its development plans and take suitable steps in line with market conditions,” an Emaar MGF spokesperson said.

Early this year, DLF had sold two land parcels in Mysore too, where it was expected to take up hospitality projects.

The company plans to raise Rs 900 crore by selling eight hotel plots across Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Baroda, Lucknow, Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) and Sikkim by June-end.

According to commercial real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield, both DLF and Emaar are revisiting their earlier plans and are developing hotels only at specific locations. “We will see specific cases where firms will look at exiting the hotel business,” said Akshay Kulkarni, executive director, hospitality services, Cushman & Wakefield.

^^Not sure who can buy the land at prices that existed during the peak in 2006. Whatever be the case, we need high-rises on all these land parcels on the bypass.
On the positive side, it looks like Apeejay is going ahead with their plan to build a hotel on the plot next to DLF on the bypass

does New Town needs these many hotels??
proper infrastructure IMO is the need of the hour..

does New Town needs these many hotels??
proper infrastructure IMO is the need of the hour..

I think AA1 has the required infrastructure; it is AA2 and AA3 that is mired in several issues.

photo copyright sourav chakraborty

1
http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/5715/kolkatasourav4.jpg (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/kolkatasourav4.jpg/)

2
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/5039/kolkata5sourav.jpg (http://img714.imageshack.us/i/kolkata5sourav.jpg/)

more photos here (http://picasaweb.google.com/113107989095356480339/KolkataPics)

photo copyright sourav chakraborty

more photos here (http://picasaweb.google.com/113107989095356480339/KolkataPics)

Actually these are the photos taken by sourav2010 of SSCI. I got a request from Sourav to post the photos here. I will post the photos here. Thanks again to Sourav for the wonderful images.. :cheers:


http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9192/img0762y.jpg

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/5426/img0788.jpg

http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/9224/img0773m.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1442/img0744l.jpg

^^ Contd

Photo cc sourav2010 of SSC

City Centre II
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5429/img0789sh.jpg

http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/6282/picture20014.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5134/img0828ba.jpg

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6484/img0829n.jpg

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/1144/img0836c.jpg

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/777/img0839c.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8141/picture20026.jpg

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7017/picture20029.jpg

^^ Contd

Photo cc sourav2010 of SSC

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3783/ritzchristmas20trip2008.jpg

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/3783/ritzchristmas20trip2008.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1313/ritzchristmas20trip2009.jpg

^^ Contd

Photo cc sourav2010 of SSC

Kolkata west International city U/C
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1313/ritzchristmas20trip2009.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2964/ritzchristmas20trip2010.jpg

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/2964/ritzchristmas20trip2010.jpg

^^ Contd

Photo cc sourav2010 of SSC

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6797/img2017qs.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2928/img2022j.jpg

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2000/img2023f.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6245/img2032r.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/193/img2026ry.jpg

The gate modeled after Brandenburg gate? It does not look like Kolkata, may be an European city!

Saraf and Sourav2010 thank you very much for so many nice picture:)

btw Sabya, its Kolkata and on the other side of the Hooghly river(i.e.Howrah side)

Thanks Saraf & Samrat for appreciating my effort..

Actually, in the last few months I have been visting New Town and adjoining areas for quite a few no.of times and taking photographs in most of the occassions and thus thought of sending them before the status of the projects as shown in the pics,get 'outdated'.:)

The first phase of Kolkata West International City was seen to be progressing at satisfactory rate and I had seen a sizeable amount of interested buyers turning out there on a Saturday evening for enquiries. The main gate is really a landmark and the landsaping inside,seems to be in sync with it. The project has got the rare facility of having an Expressway infront of it,so commuting from the main Kolkata city areas and airport, is a pleasant experience.But,it was felt that electricity distribution and supply may pose to be a problem in those areas,considering the present status of power-supply in WESEB owned areas.

City centre-New town is supposedly one of the finest malls to have come up in Kolkata. Ambuja Realty really deserves kudos for gifting such a world-class mall to Kolkatans.The mall is a good mixture of positive aspects of South City Mall and City Centre-Saltlake,where the grandeur of South City is provided alongwith the openness of City Centre-Salt Lake.

sourav - thanks for all the updates:cheers: Kolkata west is one large scale project where we hardly had any updates at the ground level before your images.

Kudos to Sourav !!

Why does Kolkata West International City have bungalow type buildings ? They could have build a skyscraper and had open areas for Parks etc.

@sourav :cheers:mate...gr8 collection...keep posting and updating us...:)
@anirban heard that they are planning to launch highrises...
@ saraf aa usual ur collections r alwys gr8...our forums main contributor...keep posting and updating us!:)

Source: Facebook|Shared by many

Ratan Tata is the chairman of Indian Hotels who own the Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai, which was the target of the terrorists on 26/11/08.

Hotel President a 5 star property also belongs to Indian Hotels.

The following is really touching.

What Ratan Tata did for the Mumbai victims.... Don't miss!!!!!!

SALUTE TO MR. RATAN TATA

A. The Tata Gesture

1. All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed.

2. Relief and assistance to all those who were injured and killed

3. The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station, surroundings including the “Pav- Bha ji” vendor and the pan shop owners.

4. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order.

5. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help.

6. The thoughts and anxieties going on people’s mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided.

7. Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility.

8. Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required.

9. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected.

10. The dependents of the employees were flown from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks.

11. Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents – as to what they wanted him to do.

12. In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the Tatas for the purpose of relief of employees.

13. What is unique is that even the other people, the railway employees, the police staff, the pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months.

14. A 4 year old granddaughter of a vendor got 4 bullets in her and only one was removed in the Government hospital. She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her.

15. New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts.

16. Tata will take responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror.

17. This was the most trying period in the life of the organization. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible.

18. The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs [One lakh rupees tranlates to approx 2200 US $ ] in addition to the following benefits:

a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents;

b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents – anywhere in the world.

c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life.

d. All loans and advances were waived off – irrespective of the amount.

e. Counselor for life for each person

B. Epilogue

1. How was such passion created among the employees? How and why did they behave the way they did?

2. The organization is clear that it is not something that someone can take credit for. It is not some training and development that created such behaviour. If someone suggests that – everyone laughs

3. It has to do with the DNA of the organization, with the way Tata culture exists and above all with the situation that prevailed that time. The organization has always been telling that customers and guests are #1 priority

4. The hotel business was started by Jamshedji Tata when he was insulted in one of the British hotels and not allowed to stay there.

5. He created several institutions which later became icons of progress, culture and modernity. IISc is one such institute. He was told by the rulers that time that he can acquire land for IISc to the extent he could fence the same. He could afford fencing only 400 acres.

6. When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan – he said – do you think we are doing enough?

7. The whole approach was that the organization would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property – why not spend equally on the employees who gave their life?

This is NOT COVERED BY Any NEWS CHANNELS !

^^Although it is irrelevent for the forum, but IMO it is sumthing that every Indian should know!!!at least someone in this country thinks about life beyond business and politics!!!!

What Ratan Tata did for the Mumbai victims.... Don't miss!!!!!!

SALUTE TO MR. RATAN TATA

And what did we bengalis do to them.....scare them away.

Long live bengal :bash:

Long live Mamata!!

Hi Saraf,
Do you have any update on Shrachi Greenwood Elements at AAII?

Thanks.

Hi Saraf,
Do you have any update on Shrachi Greenwood Elements at AAII?

Thanks.

Sorry UniAni. Right now we don't.. :ohno:

Hi Saraf,
Do you have any update on Shrachi Greenwood Elements at AAII?

Thanks.

You can check some of the updates on the link below: Current Status as on 24-04-2010 (http://www.shrachi.com/bengalshrachi/residential/greenwood_elements/current_status_new.htm) [scroll to the bottom of the page...]

Thanks.

Sankara Nethralaya

photo copyright thyagaraja

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7590/sankarakolkatathiyagraj.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/i/sankarakolkatathiyagraj.jpg/)

Scrapped Kolkata IT Links project not yet dead,says junior FM
TNN
Kolkata: The skeletons keep tumbling out of the aborted Kolkata IT Links project that metamorphosed from a beacon of hope on Bengals information technology front to one of crying embarrassment for the state government.
Eight months after the venture originally supposed to house Wipros second unit and Infys maiden facility in Bengal was scrapped by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to save itself from the blushes following the discovery of an unholy nexus involving the land mafia,comes the shocking revelation that the project is not yet dead.
.... The Bank (Central Bank of India) has further reported that though (the) state IT department raised concerns about the future prospects of the project,there is no formal abandonment of the project as yet since the project was approved by the state Cabinet and final decision can be taken only at that level, Union minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena wrote in a letter on the subject to Trinamool Congress MP & chief whip Sudip Bandyopadhyay last month.A copy of this letter is available with TOI.
The Union finance ministry had entered the scene since Central Bank of India,a PSU bank,had sanctioned term loans worth Rs 425 crore to Vedic Diamond IT Links the private enterprise partnering the Bengal governments IT promotion arm Webel for implementing the Kolkata IT Links project.Bandyopadhyay had sought details from the Union finance ministry about the involvement of Central Bank in a fraudulent land deal.
Whatever we had to say has been mentioned in the press release we issued on September 7,2009,giving the reasons why we cannot proceed with the project, state IT minister Debesh Das said.Our stance remains the same.
In that press handout (available on www.itwb.org),it had been mentioned that the IT department cannot proceed with the project as the government does not want to be involved in any illegal activity.Das remained mum on whether the state Cabinet has since also sanctioned the abandonment and the status of the JV between Webel and Vedic Diamond IT Links.
We have not taken any steps to extinguish the JV,although we are not proceeding with it any more.The project was a good one but unfortunately ran into problems, Webel MD Tamal Dasgupta said.
We have not heard anything from the government or Webel since August last year.Neither are we doing anything there at the moment.Its wait-and-watch for us now, Diamond Group chief Amarnath Shroff said.Diamond Group had joined hands with Raj Modi-led Vedic Realty to form Vedic Diamond IT Links.Incidentally,Modi was arrested and later jailed last year following allegations of forcible land acquisition at the site.
In his letter to Bandyopadhyay,the Union minister of state for finance,however,went on to add that Central Banks interests have been fully protected.The project-II (for which a term loan of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned) was financed,including acquisition of land,by (the) bank as a public-private partnership project,where the government of West Bengal was also directly involved.As regards the land concerned,the urban development department,government of West Bengal,by a notification dated 17.11.2008,declared the lands as Information Technology Planning Area.Though the lands originally mortgaged to the bank were agricultural lands,by virtue of the above said notification,are deemed to be non-agricultural lands, Meena wrote.Central Bank has also reduced its exposure from Rs 1189 crore to Rs 785.63 crore,he added.

Wipro wins Bengal data centre project
TNN
Wipro Infotech has won three State Mission Mode projects for data centres from West Bengal,Maharashtra and Gujarat.State Data Centres (SDCs) is amongst the core infrastructure required for the National eGov Plan (NeGP).The Bengal project is for design,build and management of the SDC (IT and non-IT components) for a period of 5 years.

http://www.expresshealthcare.in/201005/strategy03.shtml

http://www.expresshealthcare.in/201005/20100564.jpg

The recently inaugurated 500-bed Medica Super Speciality Hospital in Kolkata has laid special emphasis on heliography and sciagraphy to aid healing. Rita Dutta comes back enchanted

When a group of healthcare professionals nixed their high-profile jobs to found an integrated healthcare group nicknamed Medica Synergie, the industry watched their every move hawk-eyed. But nothing created more ripples than the commencement of their largest project—the 500-bed Medica Super Speciality Hospital in Kolkata.

This Rs-100-crore hospital is located off EM Bypass, a stretch that is flanked with renowned hospitals like Ruby Hospital, Peerless, Desun, Rabindranath Tagore and Sankar Nethralaya. The hospital is dedicated to speciality institutes in the domains of cardiac sciences, neuro-sciences, kidney diseases, orthopaedics (including spine and joints) and gastroenterology. This is the second project of the group in the 'city of joy'. It also runs the 20-bed Medica ENT Institute at Mukundpur.

The land for this project, spread over 3.87 acres, was bought in 2006 from the Government of West Bengal. The construction commenced in March 2008.

It was only a few days that the hospital was commissioned with 206 beds, inaugurated by Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya along with Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, Surjya Kanta Mishra, on 14th April, and it is already abuzz with patient flocking various departments. This tertiary care hospital, which has recruited over 40 consultants (a blend of full-time and visiting) and 300 employees, is considering the seven states of North East, along with West Bengal, parts of Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa as catchment areas for inflow of patients. It is also expecting patients to come in droves from Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Scrapped Kolkata IT Links project not yet dead,says junior FM
TNN
Kolkata: The skeletons keep tumbling out of the aborted Kolkata IT Links project that metamorphosed from a beacon of hope on Bengals information technology front to one of crying embarrassment for the state government.
Eight months after the venture originally supposed to house Wipros second unit and Infys maiden facility in Bengal was scrapped by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to save itself from the blushes following the discovery of an unholy nexus involving the land mafia,comes the shocking revelation that the project is not yet dead.
.... The Bank (Central Bank of India) has further reported that though (the) state IT department raised concerns about the future prospects of the project,there is no formal abandonment of the project as yet since the project was approved by the state Cabinet and final decision can be taken only at that level, Union minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena wrote in a letter on the subject to Trinamool Congress MP & chief whip Sudip Bandyopadhyay last month.A copy of this letter is available with TOI.
The Union finance ministry had entered the scene since Central Bank of India,a PSU bank,had sanctioned term loans worth Rs 425 crore to Vedic Diamond IT Links the private enterprise partnering the Bengal governments IT promotion arm Webel for implementing the Kolkata IT Links project.Bandyopadhyay had sought details from the Union finance ministry about the involvement of Central Bank in a fraudulent land deal.
Whatever we had to say has been mentioned in the press release we issued on September 7,2009,giving the reasons why we cannot proceed with the project, state IT minister Debesh Das said.Our stance remains the same.
In that press handout (available on www.itwb.org),it had been mentioned that the IT department cannot proceed with the project as the government does not want to be involved in any illegal activity.Das remained mum on whether the state Cabinet has since also sanctioned the abandonment and the status of the JV between Webel and Vedic Diamond IT Links.
We have not taken any steps to extinguish the JV,although we are not proceeding with it any more.The project was a good one but unfortunately ran into problems, Webel MD Tamal Dasgupta said.
We have not heard anything from the government or Webel since August last year.Neither are we doing anything there at the moment.Its wait-and-watch for us now, Diamond Group chief Amarnath Shroff said.Diamond Group had joined hands with Raj Modi-led Vedic Realty to form Vedic Diamond IT Links.Incidentally,Modi was arrested and later jailed last year following allegations of forcible land acquisition at the site.
In his letter to Bandyopadhyay,the Union minister of state for finance,however,went on to add that Central Banks interests have been fully protected.The project-II (for which a term loan of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned) was financed,including acquisition of land,by (the) bank as a public-private partnership project,where the government of West Bengal was also directly involved.As regards the land concerned,the urban development department,government of West Bengal,by a notification dated 17.11.2008,declared the lands as Information Technology Planning Area.Though the lands originally mortgaged to the bank were agricultural lands,by virtue of the above said notification,are deemed to be non-agricultural lands, Meena wrote.Central Bank has also reduced its exposure from Rs 1189 crore to Rs 785.63 crore,he added.

Not sure what to make out of the news. What exactly is the journalist saying? Some ghotala with Central Bank loans???

Actually, in the last few months I have been visting New Town and adjoining areas for quite a few no.of times and taking photographs in most of the occassions and thus thought of sending them before the status of the projects as shown in the pics,get 'outdated'.:)



sourav2010 - Very nice photos!

:cheers:

Awesome job sourav2010...I could not recognise it was Kolkata from your brilliant photos. Maybe Kolkata is also seeing the fresh air of change despite our politicians (touchwood).

Long live Mamata!!
I do not think so UniAi......it is said a nation/community gets the politician as it deserves. We deserved 30+ years of Left and when they are at their least bad self(2005-2010), we want another change to worse.

I just pray it does not choke of the very slow transformation process of Kolkata.

Genexx Barrackpore

http://genexxbarrackpore.com/

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5558/genexxbarrackpore.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/genexxbarrackpore.jpg/)

Thanks Suncity for posting the above.

Its nice to see Kolkata is spreading its wings towards northern suburbs. The entire stretch of Barackpore - Barasat road needs to be deveoped. Besides, the Barackpore - Kalayani expressway should be immediately upgraded into 4 lanes.

btw today's Anandabazar says minister Debes Das has confirmed that the work(4 laning) would start after Durgapuja.

"Der aaye durust aaye". I hope it works:cheers:

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2721/56406824.jpg

Specifications
95 Blocks with 3992 flats
G+4 & G+11

Facilities
Modern lifestyle desired elite luxuries for hosting parties, pleasures of true-to-life entertainment and the latest fitness gear for relaxation.

Imagine a home that comes along with all these state-of-the-art leisure facilities for you and your entire family to cherish.

CLUB

* Air-conditioned Home Theatre with surround-sound speakers.
* Banquet halls for hosting parties.
* Children's Play Area.
* Kids corner
* Barbecue Space.
* Library.
* Modern large swimming pool with baby pool with changing room & shower
* Medium sized swimming pool with baby pool & Jacuzzi
* Health club having well equipped gym, steam, massage & yoga
* Equipped indoor children’s playing zone
* Coffee shop with fast food center.
* Sporting arrangement
o Cricket cum Football Playing Area.
o Basket ball, Badminton Court Volleyball & multipurpose courts.
o Indoor games with Pool & Snooker tables, TT, Darts, Chess, Card Room, & Carrom other board games.
* Separate Cricket net Practice area.

MALL

* Daily Convenience Store including fruits / vegetable / milk etc
* Bank / ATM center.
* Beauty Parlor.
* Medical Store

GENERAL

* Sewerage treatment plant- In house treatment and disposal of all wastes generated within the complex.
* Amphitheatre
* Children Park.
* In-house plumber and electrician round the clock, carpenter on call, centralized payment of electricity and telephone bills, pest control service etc.
* Common roof
* Visitor’s car parking & with dedicated car wash zone.
* Professional maintenance agency.
* Central lawn for community gathering, organizing festivals, etc.
* 24 hrs Corporation / Filtered Water Supply
* Round the clock security arrangement with CCTV & Intercom
* Generator backup (full backup for common facilities and limited for flats)
* Walk ways and jogging track & cycling track
* Vast landscaped garden with ample trees, water bodies & fountains.
* Decorative ground floor lobby
* Management / maintenance office
* Demarcated area for Garbage disposal system
* Gated city
* Air – conditioned Community/banquet halls [1 for every 300 apartments]
* Stage for function / shows / puja etc.
* Provision for Cable TV connection (only conduit laying, no wiring)
* Servants/drivers toilet & shower room in the ground floor of each building.

SEPARATE

* Provision for School inside / adjoining the complex with Crèche for kids.
* Provision for Health care center and Doctor
* 24 hours Ambulance and Pharmacy

EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
In house AC bus facility to connect Behala Chowrasta & Tollygunge Metro

source: http://www.greenfieldcity.com ...for more info log on to the site..

for current status on this project log onto: http://www.greenfieldcity.com/site_progress_gallery.php

Thanks Suncity for posting the above.

Its nice to see Kolkata is spreading its wings towards northern suburbs.

Yes, it is a good thing to see big projects in the suburbs.

There is an urgent need to four lane the Kalyani Expressway and start the process of planned urbanization in various parts of the metro and the state. The fear of urbanization amongst our self declared intellectuals, social activists and politicians and their thinking that all residents of Bengal should reside in 'peaceful' villages and make jam and jellies in their homes to earn a living needs to be junked.

What project is this?

Project behind ITC Sonar Bangla - from NK Realtors website

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3020/itcsonarbangla.jpg (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/itcsonarbangla.jpg/)

Thanks Suncity for posting the above.

Its nice to see Kolkata is spreading its wings towards northern suburbs. The entire stretch of Barackpore - Barasat road needs to be deveoped. Besides, the Barackpore - Kalayani expressway should be immediately upgraded into 4 lanes.

btw today's Anandabazar says minister Debes Das has confirmed that the work(4 laning) would start after Durgapuja.

"Der aaye durust aaye". I hope it works:cheers:

I completely agree with you Samrat that the northern suburbs (Dumdum to Kalyani) need to be developed to be another Mumbai city (Dadar to Borivali).. Also, as far as I know, the WB Govt claims the Kalyani Expressway to be 4 lanes already whereas it is actually 2 lanes! :bash: I do believe that the entire stretch needs to be constructed as 6 lanes expressway with flyovers at important junctions so that once the area gets developed, there would not be much need of building flyovers. This shall help the entire stretch being completed at a very low cost as well..

sourav2010 - Very nice photos!

:cheers:

Thanks everybody for appreciating my effort. I would try to update with more pics as & when I get chance to witness any development in the city..

It is true that a first glance of these projects give a complete different perception about Kolkata, than what we have got used to see in the past. Infact,New Town,if properly implemented ,has the potential to be developed as a show-piece township of Bengal. It has some projects (both upcoming & completed) which not only look world-class,but are well-equipped in terms of the latest infrastructural standards and give the township an upscale look, on an overall basis. The two entry/exit points of New Town,from Sector V and VIP road sides,already have two grand projects,namely the DLF IT Park-I and City Centre-II mall ,respectively,which build up a positive outlook when someone enters the town. Now,it all depends on how the concerned authority takes up plans in the coming days,to develop the basic infrastructure of the place in a proper manner and politics doesn't come in the way to that!

Another stretch on the outskirts of Kolkata , which looks to be very promising,is the area adjoning NH-6,all starting from Kona expressway/NH-6 junction,to Nivedita Setu (near Bally). Two large scale projects by Unitech near the Kona-expressway/NH-6 junction ,alongwith the Kolkata West International City (KWIC) project on NH-6,is bound to give an upscale look to that part of Howrah.When,I had last visited KWIC,I was told that they have plans to launch the second phase very soon,mainly comprising of high-rise apartments and commercial buildings,once they are done with the present one.

I think,it would be a delight to travel to these areas from the city centre,in the coming days, when in the next 2-3 years the Park Circus-Paroma Island flyover gets completed. Then,people travelling from either the Alipore/Dalhousie/Park St side or Ballygunge side in South and Moulali side in North,can take this 4 kms long Paroma Island flyover which would take them straight to the Chingrighata Flyover and then passing through the Rajarhat expressway and Airport,a high-speed drive can be made to the NH-6! Too good to think for,at this moment! :)

What project is this?

Project behind ITC Sonar Bangla - from NK Realtors website

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3020/itcsonarbangla.jpg (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/itcsonarbangla.jpg/)

Active acres???????...cz that's the only one u/c beahind ITC Sonar!...btw wasn't the name of the project mentioned in nk's site?

The fear of urbanization amongst our self declared intellectuals, social activists and politicians and their thinking that all residents of Bengal should reside in 'peaceful' villages and make jam and jellies in their homes to earn a living needs to be junked.
Who will explain that to Miss Mamata Banerjee? She already did enough damage and now has termed Nayachar PCPIR as "Danob shilpo" (Monstrous industry).

Btw what is the update on Nayachar? Is the state government also going slow on that due to upcoming elections??

I dont think thats active acres because active acres is like 20 storeys.

CBS to invest Rs 75 crore in infra

Calcutta Business School (CBS), a S K Birla institute, is investing Rs 75 crore in building its management school.

The institute, whose first batch is graduating this year, is looking at creating a centre of excellence for its management studies.{Asit Datta, director, CBS, said, “We are investing Rs 75 crore in building proper infrastructure, classrooms, hostels and other facilities.”

“There are already several business schools in India. We are trying to build a centre of excellence for management studies. For this, we are not only investing in modern amenities and encouraging research with industrial groups, we are also trying to tie-up with a few US-based business schools for student exchange programmes and also jointly develop curriculum,” added Datta. The institute has placed all its 27 students in its first batch. While highest salary touched Rs 5.5 lakh per annum, average salary stood at Rs 4 lakh. “Companies like Wipro, GE Healthcare, Emami, Tata Steel, Eveready, and other, offered profiles in human resources, marketing and finance,” Datta added.

The institute is also is planning to start a 15-month programme for executives from next year. “We are planning to start a 15-month course for the executives from next year,” S K Birla, chairman of the CBS board of governors, said. The course fees would be Rs 9-10 lakh.

Source: Business Standard

I dont think thats active acres because active acres is like 20 storeys.

hmmm...and ths is hardly 7-8 stories...enlightment reqiured...anyone?

http://www.nkrealtors.com/viewDetails.php?ProId=94

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3277/astra2org.jpg (http://img683.imageshack.us/i/astra2org.jpg/)

Website mentions "Under Construction" ...
Located at Action Area II-C/1 in Rajarhat - Kolkata, just 7 kms from the airport, Astra towers is a state of the art 5,44,500 sq.ft
astra - towers Link (http://www.bhartirealty.com/projects/under_construction/astra-towers)

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/9418/ohiohospital.jpg

located in a corner plot in the Rajarhat New Town, Kolkata, with water front on the third side, the hospital complex is proposed to be developed in two phases.With an investment of 45 crores, the first phase will comprise of a 200 bed Cardiac facility. The second phase will see the project develop to provide multispeciality healthcare center. The building design showcases the use of glass and steel thereby expressing the approach of the owner Dr. Ashish Rakhit, a practising Cardiologist in U.S.A. The hospital is proposed to have a landscaped forecourt echoing the spirit of the riverfront. A double height “concourse” running across the facade of both phases , houses facilities for visitors.

This project (ohio hospital) is U/C just beside Tata Medical Centre.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/9418/ohiohospital.jpg

located in a corner plot in the Rajarhat New Town, Kolkata, with water front on the third side, the hospital complex is proposed to be developed in two phases.With an investment of 45 crores, the first phase will comprise of a 200 bed Cardiac facility. The second phase will see the project develop to provide multispeciality healthcare center. The building design showcases the use of glass and steel thereby expressing the approach of the owner Dr. Ashish Rakhit, a practising Cardiologist in U.S.A. The hospital is proposed to have a landscaped forecourt echoing the spirit of the riverfront. A double height “concourse” running across the facade of both phases , houses facilities for visitors.

This project (ohio hospital) is U/C just beside Tata Medical Centre.

^^Groundwork is underway for Ohio hospital. This high-rise will add a new dimension to the commercial skyline of AA2 which has seen only midrises so far.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3277/astra2org.jpg (http://img683.imageshack.us/i/astra2org.jpg/)

Nice find, Kolkata. This is the first I am hearing of this group in relation to Kolkata

Nice update highrise_kolkata

Can anyone give update about SP Infocity,kolkata
Website http://www.spinfocity.com/contents/kolkata_clientele.htm
says Under Construction

They have another project in Durgapur.
http://www.spinfocity.com/contents/durgapur.htm
Hope the project will come up.

Thanks for the update kolkata.

Where http://www.canopygroup.in/project-acre.asp
project is going on
Website says "Under Construction"

^^it seems the website is under construction and not the project

guys any clue regarding the Kolkata campus of IIT coming up @ rajarhat?
also heard that BARC has taken up a land in rajarhat...need confirmation regarding this!
its really nice to see that many new pvt hospitals are comming up in rajarhat...but its a high time IMO that Kolkata should also have a brach of AIIMS..as it has for other big hospitals!

Mayfair to build 12 housing complexes across Kolkata

The various residential projects from Mayfair group include Mayfair Greens (EM Bypass Extension, Narendrapur), Mayfair Eternity (Narendrapur), Mayfair Residency (Off EM Bypass), Mayfair Venezia (Madurdaha), Mayfair Emerald (Nayabad), Mayfair Espana (Biren Roy Road, Behala), Mayfair Pearl (Nayabad), Mayfair Ruby (Nayabad), Mayfair Saphire (Nayabad), Mayfair Topaz (Nayabad), Mayfair Petal (Madurdaha) and Mayfair Daffodil (Madurdaha, Kalikapur).
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/real-estate/mayfair-build-12-housing-complexes-across-kolkata-822

^^ Cool update guys. Its great too see lots of projects are coming back on track (will at least on internet :lol:). But please keep finding and keep posting guys. :cheers:

Btw, the Ohio hospital project and the astra project in Rajarhat are both great..:cheers:

Some recent pics of Sec - V (taken this week only)

PS SRIJAN TECH PARK
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4623/04052010693.jpg

GLOBSYN CRYSTAL
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/738/19052010724.jpg

THE 2 GODREJ PROPERTIES -GENESIS (FRONT) & WATERSIDE (BACK)
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/9131/19052010720.jpg

OMEGA & INFINITY THINK TANK 1 & 2
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/543/19052010730.jpg

MILLENIUM TOWER & PS SRIJAN TECHPARK
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/772/19052010728.jpg

Some other pics of SEC-V

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2263/19052010719.jpg

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/7739/p2903101755.jpg

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9450/p2903101756.jpg

DIAMOND TOWER - MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

After setting up the Site Office, they are demolishing the white building in the property.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/1879/p1705101444.jpg

Observe the white half demolished building behind Hotel Golden Park (next to Tata Centre) - site for the Diamond Tower

Hi abhishek,

I always loved your photos. They are always great. The current Sec-V photos are just gorgeous. Please keep posting. Thanks again.. :banana::banana:

Superb update abhishek,

Plz Plz keep posting frequent update.

And if possible want recent update of some projects in bantala and raharhat

abhishek, many thanks for the updates:) Do you know what is the U/C building next to Srijan Tech park? Apparently construction seems to have stopped several months back and they have spilled a lot of the construction material in the road in front of it.

Bengal Peerless to kick start Kolkata project in June

Friday, 21 May, 2010
Bengal Peerless Housing Development Company is likely to commence work on its proposed Rs 400-crore housing-cum-commercial project near Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata in June 2010.

Earlier, the company was expected to begin work in December 2009; however it was delayed due to land acquisition issues. The West Bengal Government had acquired the land on behalf of Peerless, as per joint sector agreements. Bengal Peerless is a joint sector company of the West Bengal Housing Board and the Peerless General Finance and Investment Company.
Currently, company is waiting for approvals from the municipal authorities and environment department.
The entire project is likely to be developed on 13 acre and will comprise of 1,460 residential units along with some commercial office space. The Phase I of the project involves setting up of 500 residential units in the low, middle and high income categories in equal proportions. The entire project is expected to be completed in seven years.
http://projectstoday.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?smid=24&nid=31129

Bharti's Astra Towers in New Town

http://www.bhartirealty.com/projects/under_construction/astra-towers

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8576/astra1kolkata.jpg (http://img88.imageshack.us/i/astra1kolkata.jpg/)

@ Saraf, arijeetb & SambitB , thanks for your appreciations and this is mutual, i really appreciate the way u have kept this forum thriving along with Suncity & others.

Well, i am lucky that my job keeps me very close to buildings. Will keep on posting pics of deve in and around the city.

Well, i am lucky that my job keeps me very close to buildings. Will keep on posting pics of deve in and around the city.

That would be great!

:cheers:

Unitech Gateway taking its shape.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7917/p2205100922.jpg

Unitech Gateway taking its shape.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7917/p2205100922.jpg

Good to see projects like Kolkata West and Unitech Gateway coming up in Howrah.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8340/thegalleriakolkatapersp.gif (http://img404.imageshack.us/i/thegalleriakolkatapersp.gif/)

DLF galleria,
Status U/C,
Location New Town

CTS Bantala

photo copyright souravdch

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/2721/bantalactssouravdch.jpg (http://img534.imageshack.us/i/bantalactssouravdch.jpg/)

Looks like Videocon Habitat Phase I is rising in the skyline

Render

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2650/videoconehabitatphase1s.jpg (http://img696.imageshack.us/i/videoconehabitatphase1s.jpg/)


photo copyright Abhishek Sadhya

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1964/nabadiganta4asadhyaw.jpg (http://img196.imageshack.us/i/nabadiganta4asadhyaw.jpg/)

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/892/23052010022053.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/23052010022053.jpg/) Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Unitech Gateway taking its shape.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7917/p2205100922.jpg


@Abhishek,

This is a great update! Now it really seems that we are finally going to see a complete change in the skyline on the other side of Ganges in near future,specially on that stretch!

Yesterday,I had been to Salt Lake for some official work. It was raining heavily in the evening,but I did not miss the chance to click some photos of some on-going/recently completed projects in & around Salt Lake/Rajarhat.Posting here,some of them....In many cases,wide-angle pics of the projects could not taken from some open space because of the heavy downpour..

Some of the photos of Sanjeeva Town (the bungalow estate) in Rajarhat (near Aquatica are given below. Some images of the bungalows of 'Ideal Villas',another project adjacent to Sanjeeva Town, can also be seen in many of the pics..



Full album link on Picasa--

http://picasaweb.google.com/113107989095356480339/KolkataPics#

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6928/img2155i.jpg

The pics has been re-uploaded in my next post.

Sourav >

Simply post the direct hyperlink of the image between IMG tags.

You were putting the page link between the IMG tags.

One way to do is go to your imageshack gallery

http://img33.imageshack.us/g/img2123ox.jpg/

Then click on a picture (say the first one). It will take you to the picture page

http://img138.imageshack.us/i/img2122jt.jpg/

Then check the right side of the page and there will be a direct link (second choice) under the "links to share column". Copy that link and place it under the IMG tags.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7844/img2122jt.jpg

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7844/img2122jt.jpg

replace IMAGE with IMG

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7844/img2122jt.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/218/fviewpage02.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/i/fviewpage02.jpg/)

XANADUWORLD Project New Town

Current Status-March 2010:cheers::cheers:

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/589/xanadumar1001.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/i/xanadumar1001.jpg/)

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7271/xanadumar1003.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/i/xanadumar1003.jpg/)

@Suncity,thanks a lot for your valuable help. As directed by you,I am trying to upload the pics once again..

1) The driveway to Godrej Waterside..

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7241/img2103u.jpg

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/7783/img2127b.jpg

2) View of the adjacent waterbody,from one of the floors of Godrej Waterside
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2249/copyofimg2087.jpg

3) TCS buildings (both the old & new one),as seen from Godrej Waterside
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1954/img2096b.jpg

4) http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/9715/img2100v.jpg

5) A huge plot adjacent to Godrej Waterside,a probable site for another mammoth project (A site office was seen to there, as can be seen in the last pic of this post).

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/4954/img2099d.jpg

6) 'Bird's eye view' of New Town (Rajarhat) from Godrej Waterside.A road passing in between the waterbody and Godrej Waterside building,is connecting Sector V with New Town.

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4558/img2117ft.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1381/img2114d.jpg

7) The main & annex buildings of Godrej Waterside

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2599/img2121b.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1746/img2119k.jpg

8) Some nearby constructions

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8527/img2098y.jpg

Ohio Hospital - U/C at AA2
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9418/ohiohospital.jpg

sourav, you seem to get amazing picture clarity in not so good weather conditions. Thanks for all the nice images:cheers:

Nagerbazar flyover - U/C - This project undertaken by HRBC seems to have taken a toll on the roads.
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9878/nagerbazarflyover01.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5816/nagerbazarflyover02.jpg

Synthesis Business Park - U/C
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5881/synthesisbusinesspark.jpg

Sunrise Greens - U/C
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/8734/sunrisegreensshrachi.jpg

The state of roads in sector v is pathetic to say the least.The one in front of waterside,between the globsyn and the other godrej construction.Also between large offices like omega and infinity buildings its hardly a 2 lane road.
With all these plots being sold to offices there will soon be no open spaces left,no proper public transport.Also kolkatas famous hawkers have already started to grabbing space on footpaths.
Wherever there is office crowd "cha,cigaaret,patties kochuri dokans" will follow!

The state of roads in sector v is pathetic to say the least.The one in front of waterside,between the globsyn and the other godrej construction.Also between large offices like omega and infinity buildings its hardly a 2 lane road.
With all these plots being sold to offices there will soon be no open spaces left,no proper public transport.Also kolkatas famous hawkers have already started to grabbing space on footpaths.
Wherever there is office crowd "cha,cigaaret,patties kochuri dokans" will follow!

PS Pace - U/C
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/912/srijanproject.jpg

PS NewTown Square - U/C
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7744/pspace.jpg

Diamond Heritage - updated render
source: - Diamond Group (www.diamondgroupweb.com)

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8007/heritage.jpg

Diamond Arcade on Jessore Road

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7758/arcadedh.jpg

hi....I am a new member of this excellent forum SSC....
does anybody have any update about the new project
of eden group EDEN SPRINGFIELD off P.A SHAH CONNECTOR???

Simply WOW!!!.. So many update by Sourav, Arijeet and highrise-kolkata. Thanks a lot guys. Lots of projects :banana:

Nagerbazar flyover - U/C - This project undertaken by HRBC seems to have taken a toll on the roads.
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5816/nagerbazarflyover02.jpg

Is that a two lane flyover?

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5816/nagerbazarflyover02.jpg

what are the pillars/piers made up of?...doesnt seem like concrete!!!

@Studdmanster
The pillars are of metal.

@Sourav, Arijeet and highrise-kolkata
Excellent update guys.
specially sourav's,pics with waterfront is excellent. I love these.

@Samit: metals!!!!.....very outdated concept!:ohno:

@ Sourav, Arijeet and highrise-kolkata: excellent work...thanx for keeping us upadated!!

@ sourav: i appreciate the pains you took to take the pics in a rainy day and add to that such slushy roads...i am well aware of the main road of sec-5 which is no doubt the worst in kolkata...but the connecting roads/inner roads..especially the ones near Godrej is pathetic...its high time the admins should tighten up their belts before its too late!!!
add to that the narrow roads..god forbid but if some untoward incident happens will there be enough road space??...at least for these highrises you have to have a road width of 120fts...!

@Samit: metals!!!!.....very outdated concept!:ohno:

@ Sourav, Arijeet and highrise-kolkata: excellent work...thanx for keeping us upadated!!

@ sourav: i appreciate the pains you took to take the pics in a rainy day and add to that such slushy roads...i am well aware of the main road of sec-5 which is no doubt the worst in kolkata...but the connecting roads/inner roads..especially the ones near Godrej is pathetic...its high time the admins should tighten up their belts before its too late!!!
add to that the narrow roads..god forbid but if some untoward incident happens will there be enough road space??...at least for these highrises you have to have a road width of 120fts...!

if something untoward happens, people should break the panes and dive into the waterbodies around it; those with knowledge of swimming can be saved.

Even big projects such as Genesis, Waterside and also Infinity Benchmark have come up on small parcels of land where more than 60% has been used for construction - do they/is there a plan to have fire drills for these high rises? where is "safe assembly area" for these buildings ? All set for a recipe of chaos if NBIDA does not get its act together.

Upcoming projects
as seen in website from TCG Realty

FIRST INTELLIGENT PLACE - KOLKATA
http://www.tcgre.com/#projects_Kolkata_FirstIntelligentPlace

FIRST DIGITAL PARK - KOLKATA
http://www.tcgre.com/#projects_Kolkata_FirstDigitalPark

Here are some recent pics taken on last weekend when I had been to Saltlake & Rajarhat

1) Sanjeeva Town-bungalow

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3924/img2132gu.jpg

2) Row of bungalows in Sanjeeva Town

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6011/img2146n.jpg

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/753/img2161xh.jpg

Also seen here is Ideal Villas,in the adjacent plot

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/6676/img2155xl.jpg

3) Main entrance to Ideal Villas

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9800/img2128f.jpg

Bungalows of Ideal Villas

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3721/img2156e.jpg

4) Inside Sanjeeva Town-

Central park,with club in background

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9104/img2154d.jpg

View of the park,from a penthouse

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7549/img2139u.jpg

A typical bungalow:-

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5008/img2149l.jpg

Work going on in the kitchen, inside a duplex

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/2784/img2137e.jpg

Bylanes

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/9763/img2159y.jpg

Temple

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/3220/img2162i.jpg

I found this picture of a gate in Milan. Probably the design of the KWIC gate was inspired from this one
http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/3062/milangate.jpg

source: http://studyabroad.business.illinois.edu/programs/semester/index.html

[QUOTE=sourav2010;57397761]@Suncity,thanks a lot for your valuable help. As directed by you,I am trying to upload the pics once again..


2) View of the adjacent waterbody,from one of the floors of Godrej Waterside
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2249/copyofimg2087.jpg


How will the employees posted in this building be able to work!!!!

With such a magnificent view concentrating will be hard :)

@Samit: metals!!!!.....very outdated concept!:ohno:

@ Sourav, Arijeet and highrise-kolkata: excellent work...thanx for keeping us upadated!!

@ sourav: i appreciate the pains you took to take the pics in a rainy day and add to that such slushy roads...i am well aware of the main road of sec-5 which is no doubt the worst in kolkata...but the connecting roads/inner roads..especially the ones near Godrej is pathetic...its high time the admins should tighten up their belts before its too late!!!
add to that the narrow roads..god forbid but if some untoward incident happens will there be enough road space??...at least for these highrises you have to have a road width of 120fts...!


Thanks everybody for appreciating my efforts..

Well,I fully agree with studdmaster,Arijeet and all others that the roads in Sector V are presently in a deplorable condition.One just need to go there on any rainy day,to see the actual situation. It seems that as if we have arrived in a big dumping ground..nothing seems to be in order,be it the road-repair/drainage work carried out by JUSCO & going on for time immemorial, the street furnitures (which infact,do not exist in Sec V),the ever increasing count of shanties/hawkers on the narrow roads,even on stretches having no footpath, or the water logging that takes place even after a slight spell of rain!

I was just shocked to see the present state of Sector V and was wondering about one thing that whether this is the so-called 'showpiece' industrial township which our state tries to showcase to any big prospective investor in IT sector? I fail to understand that what has been the use of having a separate adminstrative authority for this newly named Nabadiganta township. in the last one year...

Godrej WS has luckily come up on a double-lane road unlike many other mammoth projects which are coming up every now & then in Sector V,but the problem still lies in the fact that the entry point to the road from 'College More' crossing, is blocked by shanties/autos/rickshaws and numerous buses which pass by the main arterial road.Drainage system is not proper,got the proof on last Sat only when it was raining and the stretch was waterlogged...Infact,I just dared not to venture into some other road,seeing the condition of the one infront of Waterside...

[QUOTE=sourav2010;57397761]@Suncity,thanks a lot for your valuable help. As directed by you,I am trying to upload the pics once again..


2) View of the adjacent waterbody,from one of the floors of Godrej Waterside
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2249/copyofimg2087.jpg


How will the employees posted in this building be able to work!!!!

With such a magnificent view concentrating will be hard :)


You are right,the buildings facing the waterbody are lucky to have got some of the best views in entire area ,Godrej WS is no exception...it has got an unblocked view of the vast expanse of the waterbody beside it ,from almost all its floors.

I just wish that the roads in the township become equally well so as to also make the experience of reaching this place,a good one!

:ohno:
Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100525/jsp/calcutta/story_12485123.jsp
A World Bank report has revealed what the manifestos have missed — civic disasters triggered by climate change are set to scar some showpiece zones of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s “new-look Calcutta” and Mamata Banerjee’s “new London”.

The study, the first of its kind in India, not only establishes a link between climate change and civic disasters but also identifies the city’s development hotspots on either side of the EM Bypass as the most vulnerable wards based on location, infrastructure and range of natural calamities.

Seven of the top 10 wards in the danger zone are on the eastern fringes of the city. The 10 wards — 57, 58, 59, 63, 65, 66, 74, 80, 108 and 109 — include parts of Park Street, Camac Street, Beleghata and the entire length of the Bypass dotted with some of the city’s biggest residential complexes.

“The greater vulnerability of these wards is probably explained by the inadequate infrastructure, unplanned land use, and poor socio-economic and environmental conditions,” it states.

According to the report, recently submitted to the state government, the lack of drainage would be east Calcutta’s undoing.

East Calcutta has seen largescale real estate activity over the past couple of decades — a lot of it illegal — with the support of political parties. Several wetlands have been illegally filled up along the Bypass and beyond.

Chief secretary Ardhendu Sen, who chaired the meeting where the draft report was presented to the government, admitted that the findings were an eye-opener. “The state government has already taken certain steps to combat climate change but this report shows that we still have a long way to go,” he said.

Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok are the other cities where similar studies have been taken up.

The report points out that “Calcutta and Mumbai in India (are) among the top 10 cities that have high exposure to flooding under the current climate change forecasts”.

It also forecasts a 1.2 to 1.8 degrees Centigrade rise in temperatures in Calcutta by 2050 along with a fractional increase in rainfall. According to estimates, floods would drain out around Rs 10,880 crore from the Calcutta Municipal Corporation in the next four decades.

Some experts have since raised questions about why wards in north Calcutta don’t figure in the list of “most vulnerable wards” despite being contiguous to the Hooghly. A few others feel that the rise in sea and river levels in the Sunderbans should be highlighted while calculating the city’s vulnerability quotient.

“A few suggestions might be included in the final report,” said chief environment officer Debal Roy, the nodal person for the project.

Certainly the present mode of development needs to be given a serious thought and even at the risk of sounding like a detractor i guess we should stop gloating over these high-rises. The environmental crisis is only getting worsened with each passing day as natural resources are inexorably depleted. I doubt if this would sustainable in the long run. What do the forumers suggest to avert this impending disaster?

Photo cc indirasingh2002 (http://picasaweb.google.com/indirasingh2002/2010India#)

A small very new college. Any idea about the location of the campus? They got a nice campus it seems.
Their website (http://www.praxis-softek.com/) says they are a infotech company having offices in Kolkata(sec-v), USA, UK and Ireland.

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/DSCN9751.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/DSCN9706.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/DSCN9705.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/DSCN9687.jpg

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/DSCN9652.jpg

Photo cc indirasingh2002 (http://picasaweb.google.com/indirasingh2002/2010India#)

A small very new college. Any idea about the location of the campus? They got a nice campus it seems.
Their website (http://www.praxis-softek.com/) says they are a infotech company having offices in Kolkata(sec-v), USA, UK and Ireland.

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/DSCN9751.jpg



It is located on Bakrahat Road, Rasapunja, on the southern outskirts of Kolkata.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxis_Business_School,_Kolkata

As per Anandabazar newspaper today it seems that the BRTS project has been approved from Central Govt in kolkata to run from Garia to Ultadanga involving around 17 bus stops based on the Ahmedabad BRTS model.
The stops should be located at the center of the divider as well as the bypass being converted into a 8-lane road. Flyover plans are there for Ruby and Prince Anwarshah connector.

As per the newspaper, the project would start very soon and would take around 2 yrs to complete.

^^ Yes, according to Anandabazar Central Govt approved the project. Lets see..

Forum Courtyard - U/C
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/1299/forumcourtyard.jpg

A high-rise u/c on Elgin Road
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9046/highriseonelginroad.jpg

photos copyright Asit Kumar (picasaweb)

Siddha Pines

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7743/siddhappinesasitkumar.jpg (http://img229.imageshack.us/i/siddhappinesasitkumar.jpg/)

Siddha Xanadu

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/1471/siddhaoneasitkumar.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/i/siddhaoneasitkumar.jpg/)

Hi All,

I was delighted when I came across this message board today. Have always been a keen follower of new economic/development activities in Kolkata and Bengal in general and so far my sources have been a few news sites/papers and google news search :-) So, this message board appeared to me as a diamond mine with polished diamonds ready for picking - i spent the entire day today picking them :-) Thanks to so many enthusiastic members who post regularly here and have made this vibrant community an oasis amidst the all-round gloom surrounding the future of Kolkata/Bengal (at least that's what I have been hearing consistently for the past 10 years or so of my stay outside Bengal). But, like a phoenix, Kolkata refuses to "die" and keeps grabbing the headline from time to time with surprising news like ICC, Assocham championing the development activities in Bengal (even after the recent debacles with industrialization in Bengal) and the recent news on GDP based position of Kolkata (3rd in the country!!) and its projected GDP for the next two decades. This forum, justifies these apparent contradictions and will continue to do so. Amen!

Nagerbazar flyover - U/C - This project undertaken by HRBC seems to have taken a toll on the roads.
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9878/nagerbazarflyover01.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5816/nagerbazarflyover02.jpg

why dont you post these pics in "kolkata roads and flyovers"?
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1025417&page=11&highlight=kolkata+flyover

Fortis hospital - U/C near Ruby roundabout - the construction was stalled for a long time after Wockhardt ran into financial problems. The takeover seems to have revived this project.
photo cc - arijeetb

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1151/fortisbypass.jpg

While surfing the net,found these proposed pics of the upcoming Taj Gateway hotel at Ruby Golpark (EM Bypass-Rashbehari Connector crossing).Work is going on at a steady rate,would post some on-site pics very soon.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/152/kolkata02big.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/927/kolkata01big.jpg

Hi All,

I was delighted when I came across this message board today. Have always been a keen follower of new economic/development activities in Kolkata and Bengal in general and so far my sources have been a few news sites/papers and google news search :-) So, this message board appeared to me as a diamond mine with polished diamonds ready for picking - i spent the entire day today picking them :-) Thanks to so many enthusiastic members who post regularly here and have made this vibrant community an oasis amidst the all-round gloom surrounding the future of Kolkata/Bengal (at least that's what I have been hearing consistently for the past 10 years or so of my stay outside Bengal). But, like a phoenix, Kolkata refuses to "die" and keeps grabbing the headline from time to time with surprising news like ICC, Assocham championing the development activities in Bengal (even after the recent debacles with industrialization in Bengal) and the recent news on GDP based position of Kolkata (3rd in the country!!) and its projected GDP for the next two decades. This forum, justifies these apparent contradictions and will continue to do so. Amen!

That was i my first reaction when i came here.I was like WOW!So i am not the only one.

That was i my first reaction when i came here.I was like WOW!So i am not the only one.

Thnx avishar! I believe that there are many more with similar feelings.

Hi all,

Had a gr8 photoshooting day

Updates about some projects in Newtown & Sec-V.

Sec-V - Videocon Project - i guess

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/4343/p6010079large.jpg

A building coming up @ DN block - having a Maruti Showroom at the Grnd Flr.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2299/p6010076large.jpg

DLF GALLERIA - GUESS IT IS COMING UP NEXT TO TERMINUS MALL.

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/9976/p6010081large.jpg

SANKALPA - ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MAIN ARTERIAL ROAD -NEW TOWN.
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/6765/p6010082large.jpg

THE TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/3189/p6010084large.jpg

INFOSPACE

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2323/p6010116large.jpg

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/38/p6010087large.jpg

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9264/p6010089large.jpg

UNITECH HOTEL COMING UP INFRONT OF INFOSPACE??

UNIWORLD CITY & ROSEDALE

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/4613/p6010095large.jpg

ROSEDALE

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4210/p6010096large.jpg

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5866/p6010097large.jpg

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/9430/p6010115large.jpg

UNIWORLD CITY

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4449/p6010098large.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/695/p6010100large.jpg

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/9624/p6010102large.jpg

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/2534/p6010104large.jpg

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1415/p6010111large.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8135/p6010109large.jpg

SPACE FOR DOWNTOWN MALL

UNITECH AIR - GUYS, ITS RISING - CANT WAIT TO SEE IT TAKE ITS FULL STATURE

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5121/p6010107large.jpg

DLF RESIDENTIAL + KEPPEL MAGUS ELITA VISTA
-its at one corner of the globe

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/9584/p6010125large.jpg

DLF

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8066/p6010131large.jpg

KEPPEL MAGUS ELITA VISTA

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4428/p6010134large.jpg

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5382/p6010136large.jpg

SHAPOORJI PALLONJI SHUKHOBRISHTI

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4725/p6010133large.jpg

DLF IT PARK - 2

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6499/p6010121large.jpg

ECOSPACE

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3474/p6010118large.jpg

Today i realized - Salt Lake is pint sized compared to Newtown

Fantastic updates!Thanks a lot.

Today i realized - Salt Lake is pint sized compared to Newtown

Abhishek, Marvellous job with these pictures.

New Town looks to be coming up very nicely and will soon become one of the best cities of India. I am not sure about the infrastructure development though.

I'll be visiting Kolkata in November and hope this massive construction will be much matured by that time.