TMC promises safer, smarter, greener Kolkata in KMC manifesto – Times of India

KOLKATA: Fifty footbridges with escalators and subways, upgrade of 100 KMC-run schools into English-medium institutes, mandatory rainwater harvesting in all commercial properties on over 10,000 sqm plots, migration from overground vats to underground bin container systems and SHE public toilets in every ward: Trinamool’s manifesto for the KMC elections released on Saturday promises to transform Kolkata into a safer and greener city in the next decade-and-a-half.

A four-pager released by the party, titled ‘Dash Diganta’, is an attempt to address key civic problems dogging the city for several years. To spare residents waterlogging woes they face every monsoon in certain pockets, the party promises to procure 200 more drainage pumps and augment the existing pumping stations and sewer lines. Desilting of Adi Ganga and banning the dumping of solid waste in the water body is also on the manifesto, which says experts will be consulted to find “sustainable and scientific solutions” for increased flooding of city pockets due to the changed rain pattern.
In Covid times, the focus on healthcare is important. The manifesto proposes to set up annexure healthcare centers and doubling the capacity of all 144-urban public health centers in Kolkata, which will be functional every day in a week. It also proposes to set up 30 new dengue detection centers in Kolkata in addition to ramping up the door-to-door vaccination and immunization drive.
To make Kolkata pothole-free, the party plans to concretize all arterial roads in Kolkata and cover all tertiary roads with a bitumen layer in a phased manner over the next five years using modern technologies. Apart from the 50 footbridges and subways planned, the manifesto also promises three more multi-level parking lots and 500 air-conditioned bus stops.
Trinamool says it will rope in global consultants and overhaul the city’s waste management system in Kolkata. Under a public-private-partnership model, source segregation, collection, and processing of waste will be upgraded. It also aims at making the city a zero-open-dumping model by transitioning to underground bin containers-one in every two municipal wards-instead of using open vats. On drinking water, the party promises capacity augmentation in Jorabagan, Garia and Jai Hind treatment plants and installation of 50 more booster pumping stations. This will be in addition to water harvesting and recycling in large commercial properties.
The manifesto says it will try to introduce urban miniature forests in some parks and build vertical gardens on public structures, including Metro pillars and flyovers, and all new properties of over five floors. It plans to put up streetlights every 30 metres. In addition to building SHE toilets, complete with bathing facilities, sanitary napkin dispensers and child care rooms in every ward, the party proposes tactile paths, ramps, handrails, and Braille signs in all public places to make the city accessible to persons with disabilities.
It proposes to launch ‘Paray Samadhan’ app, where residents can upload geo-tagged images of potholed roads, overflowing vats or clogged drains, seeking redress. The complaints are promised to be resolved in a fortnight. Every ward will have a redress system and a planning committee. A KMC-run community hall will be set up in every ward.