Committee headed by Chief Secy set up to beautify city

State Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee will head a committee to give suggestions to beautify the city.

The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday. The heads of departments engaged in city's beautification will be members of the committee.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had requested the Chief Secretary to ensure that all the open wires are removed and replaced by underground cables. It may be mentioned that Debashis Sen, chairman of Nabadiganta Township Development Authority (NKDA), that looks after Sector-V, the IT hub, held a meeting with cable operators to find out ways and means to remove the wires that hang all over Sector-V.

Hanging of wires across the roads pose a serious threat in many areas. In the narrow lanes and by-lanes of Topsia and Tiljala and its neighbourhood, wires installed by cable TV operators are hung randomly. They can cause major fire at any moment. Similarly, in the vast areas of Dum Dum and its neighbourhood, Baguiati and its neighbourhood, cable lines are found to be hanging like nets in such ways that in some areas they have blocked a clear view of the sky.

For quite some time, the state government was contemplating the ways and means which should be followed to remove these wires or cables and replace them by underground ones.

The committee that was formed on Tuesday, will calculate the estimated cost of putting these cables underground. It may be mentioned that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has already decided to cover all the wires that are found to be hanging outside the switch boxes of lamp posts having trident lamps. It was learnt that the committee will give a guideline which will be followed by the civic bodies all over the state.