KMC to chalk out plans to develop Posta, says Mayor after visit

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will chalk out an extensive plan to develop Posta area where eastern India's biggest wholesale market is situated, Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said on Friday.

Chatterjee – along with senior officials of KMC and their counterparts in the city police and Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) – visited Posta area on Friday afternoon. Sashi Panja, Local MLA Smita Bakshi and representatives of the local merchants' association were also present.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had assured local people that the whole area would be developed at a meeting held last year. She asked the merchants' association to send their representatives to take up the matter with KMC.

She also urged the Mayor to take up a suitable scheme after talking to local businessmen.

Chatterjee who inspected the area said KoPT would prepare its plan as vast areas of Posta fall under KoPT to develop these areas.

The KMC will improve roads, set up public toilets and improve lighting arrangements so that people could do business in a better way.

He said he would take up the issue of the wholesale flower market with Mamata Banerjee.

Chatterjee had announced on Thursday that KMC would repair Strand Bank Road which has not been repaired by KoPT for many years. It is the main link road between Howrah and north Kolkata. He said he had requested KoPT to properly maintain areas surrounding Nimlata crematorium. "There is a Bhutnath temple and a monument where Rabindranath Tagore was cremated. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy was also cremated at this crematorium. KMC has set up a state of the wooden pyre. This area needs to be developed and maintained," he said.

It may be mentioned that for the first time, a comprehensive plan for Posta has been conceived. The lanes are narrow and traffic jams are quite frequent. There is no proper infrastructure to do business in the area though the daily turnover in the wholesale market is several crores daily. The KMC will make a comprehensive plan that will benefit the residents, visitors and the businessmen.