West Bengal Needs Another Kolkata

Some say Kolkata was established in 1696 by an English merchant Job Charnock. So, the age of Kolkata is over 300 years. Kolkata, once known as Calcutta used to be the capital of British India, is now the capital of West Bengal. If you take out a day from your busy schedule and cover the city from south to north and east to west, you will realize that Kolkata is an unplanned city. What we call central Kolkata today was built by the British. It is still beautiful in some of its parts, but mostly it looks old and cluttered. North Kolkata is not only old and crumbling but rotten from its core. It needs a serious revision by the government. The western part of Kolkata is prosperous but a bit stuffy and seems not a part of Kolkata. South Kolkata also needs introspection. The way it is growing, I’m sure someday it will exactly look like North Kolkata. East Kolkata, especially Salt Lake, is well-shaped and in good condition. In aggregate, Kolkata is old and looks tired regardless of having a Salt Lake. Barring Kolkata, West Bengal has few more cities such as Siliguri, Durgapur, and Howrah. These cities are also quite old and not at all growing the way they should be. Durgapur is a comparatively new city but lacks business. The latest addition, New Town is still growing, and in a planned manner, but considers as an extension of Kolkata. Considering Kolkata’s structure and flaws in the plan, it would be a humongous task for the government to redesign Kolkata and turn it into a city with modern living standards.

However, if the government start thinking of creating a new city, it would be ideal for the people of West Bengal. There is no doubt that the pressure on Kolkata is humongous. The problem is entire West Bengal is somehow dependant on Kolkata. However, if you look at a state like Maharashtra, you can see cities like Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, and Nagpur that has also started attracting business. What I meant here is that these cities are not entirely dependent on Mumbai or Pune. These cities help to relieve the pressure that Mumbai used to take.

All over the world, people like to live in cities. More and more people are becoming urban-centric as they want to enjoy the fruits of living in cities. This notion has inspired them to migrate in large numbers to cities. If the West Bengal government can create an IT hub at Malda or a manufacturing hub in Kalyani, it will not only create jobs but also create an entirely new city. The focus should be on creating cities, not on creating jobs; the focus should be on creating industries, not jobs. Jobs will follow. The city will create IT jobs or manufacturing jobs. The government should create a new city and give reasons for people to move there. West Bengal needs another Kolkata as our beloved city looks tired. 

                                                            (Image Source: Flickr)