District admin to hold camp on road taken back from Visva Bharati
Bolpur: The Birbhum district administration along with the police is soon going to hold a camp at the road connecting Sriniketan and Santiniketan that has been taken over by the state government from Visva Bharati authorities.
The camp will be held to build confidence among the ashramites and local people that no more they have to face any sort of restriction on using the thoroughfare with the decision taken by the state government's highest level to maintain the same from now onward.
Following letter by ashramites to the state government alleging that the Visva Bharati authorities often restricting them from smoothly using the road, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that she has already signed the file allowing the state Public Works Department (PWD) to take over the road from the varsity authorities to whom it was handed over in 2017. Shyam Singh, Superintendent of Police of Birbhum district, said: "The road is now under our possession and smooth movement of each and every people have been ensured."
When contacted, a senior official of the district administration said that soon a camp will be held at the place to give confidence to the people so that they no more hesitate in using the same after facing '"inconvenience" caused to them with various restrictions imposed by the varsity authorities.
Formalities to inform all concerned about taking over of the road has also started as the state PWD to give letter to the district authority, which will be just forwarded to the varsity authorities. It is the same road on which houses of Amartya Sen, Shantideb Ghosh and Nandalal Basu are situated. Welcoming the move of the Chief Minister, Nandalal Basu's decadent Dipa Sen said: "We are very happy with the decision as the road has been taken back by the state government."
Another ashramite, Prof. Pritam Roy, who is staying there since 1990, said it was really an unrealistic decision of the Visva Bharati authorities as even battery operated totos were sometime restricted from plying. "As a result elderly people like me were highly inconvenienced when we had to return from markets with heavy bags by foot," Roy said.
A large section of ashramites have also expressed their annoyance as a eight feet tall boundary wall is being constructed by the varsity authorities by "destructing the ideology of Ranbindranath Tagore". "The superintendent of police came to meet us the day the Chief Minister had announced of taking back the road and he assured all necessary subsequent steps to bring an end to inconvenience we are facing," said noted theatre personality Subir Bandyopadhyay, who had been staying as an ashramites for three generations.
