BMC to hold high-level meeting to ensure flawless arrangements

Kolkata: Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is gearing up to make foolproof arrangements for the U-17 World Cup football tournament scheduled to be played at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan in October.

A high-level meeting for better coordination will be held at BMC on Friday. BMC Commissioner Pritha Sarkar and senior officials of Public Works Department, Public Health Engineering department, WBSEDCL, Information and Cultural Affairs department and Tourism department will attend the meeting at Poura Bhavan on Friday to take stock of the ongoing work.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described the event as "a great opportunity for Bengal". She has urged all the Durga Puja committees to remove bamboo structures by October 5. Banerjee had recently convened a meeting which was attended by all senior officials of various departments that are entrusted with holding the tournament smoothly like beautification, traffic management etc. The final of U-17 World Cup will be held on October 28.

BMC will launch special drives to clean VIP Road from mid September. More employees will be deployed for the purpose. The 7.5-km stretch connecting Ultadanga with Airport will be brightly illuminated.

Special parking zones will be set up around the stadium. The police have identified the areas where the makeshift parking lots will be set up. These areas will be brightly illuminated. Around Rs 25 crore will be spent to beautify the areas surrounding the stadium. Roadside gardens have been built with green sculptures. The pavements surrounding the stadium have been repaired and given a fresh coat of paints.

Meanwhile, Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) held a high-level meeting where senior officials of New Town Kolkata Development

Authority (NKDA), Transport department and police to discuss various issues including smooth running of traffic along Biswa Bangla Sarani that connects Eastern Metropolitan Bypass with VIP Road. The Biswa Bangla globe is likely to be put up in New Town before the U-17 tournament.

The officials of FIFA will come to the city by early October and take charge of the stadium. This is the biggest football event since Independence. The officials will be put up in star hotels in the city. Mamata Banerjee has instructed senior officials to ensure that the event should be absolutely flawless.