No Smart City tag for New Town in Rajarhat

There was a proposal to make New Town in Rajarhat into a Smart City because it had made it to the shortlist of 13 prospective smart cities this May - it was its second attempt. However, the state cabinet has taken a decision of not pursuing the project. With an investment of %s 500-crore of the center and an equal amount by the State, New Town could have boasted of having new-age amenities such as intelligent street lamps with integrated distress buttons, multi-nodal transport hubs and smart bus stops.
But, Bengal has spurned the offer and it is so far the only state to have done so.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 18 August 2016.

The decision of the cabinet would be communicated to Delhi. The chief minister Mamata Banerjee had indicated much earlier that she did not want to include New Town in this central project and the cabinet has formalized this decision.
The decision would translate into losing out on a number of benefits besides smart solutions to everyday problems like a modern water treatment plant, an entertainment zone spread over 2,450sq m between Home Town and Axis Mall, cycling tracks along all thoroughfares, a senior citizens' park and e-health clinics. It comes as a huge disappointment for those who have invested their life's savings in properties in New Town. They were eagerly waiting for civic amenities in New Town to be upgraded because, as it stands, they do not have many amenities.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Kolkata to get its first crematorium, with electric furnace, for pets in New Town

Very soon a much awaited wish of Kolkattans would be fulfilled when they get their first ever crematorium for pets - it is being planned in New Town and would fill a void that forces many pet lovers to bury their pets, animals and birds, in the nearest open space or make a 2-hour drive to the only cemetery in Bakrahat, on Diamond Harbour Road.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 10 March 2016.

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has already identified a five-cottah plot in Action Area III to set up the crematorium - the plot is close to a canal bank and about a kilometre south of New Town police station. Ar present a cemetery run by an NGO in Bakrahat is the only option for anyone who wants to give his departed pet a semblance of dignity in death. The present practice of many pet owners is to dump the carcass in water bodies or bury them near their homes.
The decision to build a crematorium instead of a cemetery within the city limits was dictated by shortage of space because, while a crematorium can come up on a small piece of land, a cemetery needs a much larger space and capacity and could rapidly become an issue in future.
It is understood that the proposed crematorium will have an electric furnace like the ones at Keoratala and Nimtala apart from a landscaped lawn, a garden with a variety of flowering and ornamental plants and a building housing a photo gallery and message boards for pet owners to paste photographs of their pets and leave messages. A visitors' room along with one for meditation have also been planned.


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