Visva Bharati: District Admin stops construction of wall, says will send report to state govt soon

Kolkata: A fresh controversy sparked off when Visva Bharati authorities were found constructing a wall on a road connecting Santiniketan TV Centre to Bolpur Fire Brigade on Friday.

The district administration stopped the work and further steps, whether it will be pulled down or not, would be taken in due course of time. This comes when the state Public works Department (PWD) took back Santiniketan-Sriniketan Road from Visva Bharati authorities following allegations by ashramites that they were being restricted from properly using the same.

During her recent visit to Bolpur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed her annoyance over the present situation in Visva Bharati and vehemently hit out at its Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Bidyut Chakraborty stating him to be a man "bearing the label of BJP" as the premier institution "is turning to become epicenter of riot". According to an ashramite, Subir Bandyopadhyay, district magistrate Vijay Bharti visited Santiniketan-Sriniketan Road with a large team of police personnel and other officials.

During his visit he came to know that the varsity authorities are constructing a wall to restrict all sorts of movement on the same.

He rushed to the spot and stopped the masons from further constructing the wall. Policemen have also been posted at the area to ensure no further work takes place before they come to a conclusion in this regard. When contacted a senior official of the district authorities claimed that like Santiniketan-Sriniketan Road this road was also given to the Visva Bharati authorities to use and maintain. "How can one construct a wall on a road to stop local people using it?" the official raised the question adding that a report in this regard will be sent to the state government and subsequent steps will be taken in this regard after further discussion.

The district administration on Friday also put up signage along Santiniketan-Sriniketan Road stating that the "Road Belongs to PWD". The district magistrate also interacted with ashramites and urged them to inform the administration immediately if they face any problem in terms of using the road. He also visited different areas around Santiniketan including Ballavpur village. where the Chief Minister went on Wednesday.