State-of-the-art old age home to come up in north Howrah

Kolkata: The Howrah Improvement Trust (HIT) has taken up a major project to develop a state-of-the-art old age home in north Howrah, besides its initiative for an inclusive development of the area by creating other necessary infrastructure.

According to the HIT authorities, the old age home is the second of its kind in the entire state and there will be all sorts of facilities present, so that elderly people can spend their days in the home in comfort and peace.

Sultan Singh, Chairman of HIT, said: "Steps have been taken for an inclusive and comprehensive development of the area. Besides the old age home and all necessary beautification work in the area, steps for many other works including construction of a bus parking lot, setting up of Prakriti Tirtha and development of a football ground has also been taken up."

There is a large plot of land of HIT at Ghusuri in Howrah. Steps have been taken to set up the five-storeyed old age home there. The work to construct the building has already started and a major portion of it has already been constructed. There will be both single rooms and dormitories in the building. Moreover, the building will be constructed in such a way, that the elderly people will not face any inconvenience in moving around. There will be ramps at the entry points so that they would not need to climb staircases to enter the building.

Besides constructing the building, the HIT engineers are also taking all necessary steps to create a soothing atmosphere around the old age home, so that there will be a feel good factor for the elderly people.

In a bid to do so, the engineers have chalked out an elaborate plan to beautify the area around it.

There is around 15 acres of land. So, beautification and landscaping work will also be carried out around the building, where the elderly people can breathe in open air while taking morning or evening walks. Banks of the ponds will also be beautified.

Moreover, work is also going on to give a new lease of life to a football ground in the vicinity, with better seating capacity for spectators around the ground.

Taking a major step ahead, the HIT authorities have managed to get back a large plot of land adjacent to the old age home, that was occupied by slum dwellers.

The slum dwellers were provided with proper rehabilitation and the land has been used to construct a multi-storeyed building.

There will be a bus terminus in the ground floor, with offices and shops spread in the remaining floors of the "five-layered" building, with around 8,000 square feet of area.

With the construction of the bus terminus, the decades-old problem of parking of mini-buses on the main thoroughfare in the area, will get solved permanently.