Image 1 - Traffic jam in Kolkata
Image2: Akashvani Bhavan
Image 3: How green was my Kolkata
Image 4: The pride
I love Calcutta; oops, now Kolkata. But still for old world charm, I like calling it Calcutta. Strangely, the name of the city was changed to Kolkata without anything reflecting in the minds and hearts of the Kolkatans/ Calcuttans.
Come on, its an amazing city, there's so much to do, learn, see, eat, read and a good quality of life (touchwood). Very few cities and towns in India offer such a beautiful blend at the same time within themselves. Its a city which is suddenly bustling with a lot of constructions and new malls that have given the city a new option for shopping. But frankly speaking, I sincerely hope the beautiful vegetable markets at Gariahat or Lake Market and the like never go out of fashion.
Unfortunately, Kolkata needs to get its priorities right and fast. A recent news article in the Times of India, Kolkata edition has mentioned how trees are being chopped away for further infrastructure projects. Even the saplings that have been planted at Salt Lake are dying a slow death due to lack of proper maintenance. This is a major cause of worry and somehow no one seems to be really bothered about the rising pollution levels, depleting greenery in Kolkata, yet everyone complains about it.
What's more, it has been brought to notice by the forest department in Kolkata that several trees are mercilessly felled by many advertising agencies to make way for hoardings. This is appalling. How can Kolkatans be so short sighted? If we call Kolkata the land of music and poetry, which is influenced by nature, flora and fauna, we are wiping out our very inspiration (of poetry for Kolkatans) and our only hope for a healthy living.
Everybody is busy earning and leading a fast paced life, only to spend that hard earned income in health clubs and hospitals to lose that extra flab or get back on their feet after a bout of respiratory disorder. But no one seems to realize the root cause of the problem - Kolkata is loosing out on its valuable treasure - the greenery, the plants, trees, flowers. But only if people had time to stop, take notice and do something productive about it.
Since Kolkata is so famous for strikes, processions, bandhs, morchas and speeches, for once let the citizens come up and stand up for themselves and say enough is enough, our city is dying and we need to do something about it. Lets start planting more trees, clean up the city and live healthy.
The other day I was at Lake Market and a watchman from an apartment block came out of the gate and threw a whole lot of garbage on the main road. I was shocked, how can you openly litter the main road and the next thing that came to my mind, there are no public dustbins in Kolkata, or that I have not noticed enough of them where people can dump the wastes . Why are we so used to living in so much of dirt and filth and then blame the civil bodies for not doing a good job? Isn't it our duty to keep our cities clean? This change in attitude can come about if we have a sense of belonging to the city in the true sense and not just in terms of associations with posh clubs, its more than that.
While I was driving through the city, I found Kolkata quite cluttered, especially with the elections round the corner and to reaffirm what I felt, I read another article in the TOI, Kolkata that mentions 'Six EC observers who made a tour of the city earlier pointed out that Kolkata was one of the most cluttered cities because of political hoardings.'
We are the citizens of a country and we should make ourselves heard that we don't want a beautiful city to be cluttered by such hoardings. Imagine, what will tourists from other parts of the country and the world think when they visit Kolkata. It's something like the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire', where many got angry about the portrayal of Mumbai as slums, but refusing to admit that Mumbai has slums and poverty.
With all the blotches strewn on Kolkata, I love the city, but I feel bad for what its becoming devoid of its natural heritage. Kolkata has bled enough, has been going through a lot for several years, but its time now for the Kolkatans to stand up and demand an eco-friendly Kolkata.
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