Mayor visits Kalighat temple before development works start

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee visited Kalighat temple on Saturday morning before preparing a comprehensive area development plan.

Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that areas adjoining Kalighat temple will be developed.

Traffic congestion is a major issue on Kalighat Road and the streets in its neighbourhood on important days and weekends when hundreds of devotees from other states come to visit the temple.

As the road is narrow, vehicles are parked on the adjoining thoroughfares and it becomes almost impossible for the officers of Kalighat police station to clear the roads.

On July 4, the Chief Minister held a high level meeting in Nabanna in this connection. Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee, Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim and representatives from Kalighat Temple were present in the meeting.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was directed to prepare 3 to 4 Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for the work and those have to be submitted to the state government by August 31.

The Chief Minister will hold another meeting with all of them after the DPRs are submitted to finalise the plan that will be followed for the development work.

The work around the temple will be carried out on an immediate basis so that it can be completed as early as possible.

There are several shops outside the Kalighat temple. It is learnt that a facelift will be given to the entire area surrounding the Kalighat

temple. The development will be carried out without evicting anyone.

Meanwhile, the work of constructing the skywalk connecting the Dakshineswar Railway Station with that of the temple premises is going on at present.

The state government has also undertaken projects for development of Bakreswar, Tarapith and Tarakeswar.

It may be recalled that following the initiative of Banerjee, a skywalk is being built at Dakshineswar temple to facilitate devotees.