The work at Gitabitan township in Santiniketan began on Saturday in the presence of all the agencies involved in the project.
Chandranath Sinha, state minister for Fisheries, chairman of Santiniketan-Sriniketan Development Authority, Sabadhipati of Birbhum zilla parishad, District Magistrate of Birbhum P Mohan Gandhi along with Debashis Sen, chairman of Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), senior officials of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and Public Health Engineering department (PHE) were present at the commencement of work ceremony.
The township will come up on a 100 acre land and is situated close to the proposed Biswa Bangla Viswavidyalaya.
The university will be constructed by HIDCO with the financial assistance of the state Education department. HIDCO on Saturday made a presentation of the proposed township.
The state government has published a township policy. Six townships will come up in the state. Uttam City will come up at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas on an 89 acre land. Agnibina on a 59 acre land at Asansol, Teesta on a 51 acre land in Siliguri, Samriddhi at Kalyani on 50 acre land and Dumurjala at Howrah on a 51 acre land.
The application for land in Gitabitan township will start from July and a lottery will be conducted to allot land. There will be 2.5 cottah, 4 cottah and 6 cottah land where duplex type structures will be allowed. There will be dining rooms and kitchens on the ground floor along with bedrooms with attached toilets on the first floor and a small open space in front of each duplex flat.
There will be a central plaza and a sculpture garden and the landscaping will be done keeping in mind the rich cultural heritage of Santiniketan. There will be a colony where there will be shops on the ground floor and their owners will stay on the first floor. The cluster of shops will be aesthetically constructed.
After the lottery, the allottees will be given the patta of the land and they will have to then apply for the sanction plan. Senior state government officials feel that as the area is close to Kolkata, people will show interest in buying plots and construct duplex flats at Gitabitan. As it will be a planned township, the
agencies will install underground water supply, sewer lines and electricity lines so that the plot owners have no difficulty in constructing their houses.