Sector V awaits facelift, work on in full swing

State Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim said several development projects and decisions have been taken to give a facelift to Sector V, the first information technology hub in Bengal.

The Urban Development department has already started work to implement those projects at the earliest.

An exclusive gate for Sector V, a new administrative building, a fresh property tax structure for plot holders, Mastiff Asphalt layer in road surface are examples of the projects that would be done in near future.

Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA), the implementing agency for the developments in Sector V, has planned them in their recent board meetings.

While informing the upcoming development works, state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim said: "We do not want to repeat the mistakes that had been done by the erstwhile Left Front government 30 years back. The infrastructure of this tech-sector was so poor that techies had decided to shift from here to other states. It was really unfortunate."

He further added: "The new 'Sector V Gate' will soon come up as the identity of this tech-sector. People will identify this information technology hub by that gate."

On this issue, a senior state government officer informed that the gate will likely be located at the backside of Sector V near the large waterbody. Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will set up the new administrative building for NDITA behind Swasthya Bhawan, the officer added.

"Like New Town, Sector V will also have separate cycle tracks. Most of the places in Sector V will have wi-fi connectivity, LED streetlights and roads surface will be covered by Mastiff Asphalt," said the minister.

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur had conducted indepth research for coming up with a comprehensive master plan on Sector V's traffic management.

However, with the decision to set up a 7.5 km link road from Sector V to Sector VI at Bantala, the state government is trying to develop a smooth connectivity between two information technology hubs.

"Jadavpur University experts are working on the construction of the road. It will take much less time to reach from one sector to other," the minister said.