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CITY
BRIEFLY
� A Ganesh idol in Kolkata
on the occasion of
Ganesh Chaturthi on
Thursday — BP
Woman hit by vehicle,
hospitalised
Kolkata: A female pedestrian,
Anju Dutta, 65, was
dashed by a south bound
vehicle at Behala
Shakerbazar on Thursday.
She was taken to Vidyasagar
hospital by a trauma care
ambulance. Dutta, a resident
of Santosh Roy Road, has
injured her leg seriously. —BP
Metro extends date of
refunding smart cards
Kolkata: Kolkata Metro
Railway announced that the
last date for refunding smart
cards has been extended till
September 30. In their
release, they have decided to
extend the date of refund of
old smart cards, AFC multi
ride tickets. Tickets are ought
to be refunded within the
stipulated period. —BP
Woman knocked
down by car
Kolkata: Saraswati Devi, 65,
was knocked down by a car
near Sukanta Setu while she
got down from a bus around
11 in the morning on
Thursday. The offending car
could not be chased. Sarawati
Devi, a resident of
Vivekananda Road was taken
to KPC Medical College &
Hospital in serious
condition. —BP
Rally to affect traffic
on Friday
Kolkata: A rally comprising
of more than 500 people will
be taken out on Friday from
Diamond Harbour Road to
Tollygunge Circular Road.Due
to the procession, traffic will
be affected along the
Ramtanu Lahiri Sarani,
Sahapore Road, New Alipore
crossing and Nolini Sarkar
Avenue. The procession will
start from 11 am. —BP
Free power connection
to BPL families
Kolkata: Aiming to bring
electricity to every house in
Bengal within three years,
the state government on
Thursday announced free
power for BPL families and
basic connections to any person
against payment of `379.
Power minister Manish
Gupta told the Assembly in a
written statement that beneficiaries
would not have to
pay forinstallation of posts or
infrastructure. Monitoring of
the national rural electrification
scheme Rajiv Gandhi
Grameen Vidyutikaran
Yojana would be done by
MLAs, MPs and district magistrates,
he said. —PTI
City to see religious
procession
Kolkata: A religious procession
comprising of 250 will
be taken out from 27, Pollock
Street and return here via
Ezra Street, Canning Street,
Brabourne Road and Tea
Board on Friday. Another
procession will be taken out
from Rani Rashmoni Square
and move along N C Street,
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road. —BP
QUOTE TALE
We are ruling out heavy
rainfall as a cause for the
price hike. We are still
investigating the matter,
but one reason could be
rumours of short supply
—Rajesh Sinha
additonal secretary, agricultural
marketing department
Top cop tells force to be on its toes
As jurisdiction expands to include 17 new police stations
Our Correspondent
Kolkata: As the Kolkata
Police added over 17 police
stations in areas formerly
under the South 24-Parganas
police on Thursday, its chief
RK Pachnanda had only one
message for his men and
women: maintain law and
order, reduce the crime rate
and manage the traffic system.
Pachnanda visited the new
police stations with other
senior police officials, including
special commissioner
Shivaji Ghosh and joint commissioner
of traffic Supratim
Sarkar.
According to senior police
officials, one of the challenges
of the new areas was
the traffic congestion. There
are many auto stands on
most roads, creating problems
for daily commuters
and restricting their move-
Our Correspondent
New jurisdiction
The police stations in
added areas taken over
by Kolkata Police are:
Behala, Thakurpukur,
Parnasree, Haridevpur,
Regent Park, Bansdroni,
Patuli, Survey Park,
Purba Jadavpur,
Jadavpur, Kasba,
Tiljala, Pragati Maidan,
Rajabagan, Nadial,
Garfa and Metiabruz
ment. Unlike on city roads,
the new areas have a lot of
cycle rickshaws, rickshaw
vans and motor fitted vans.
The city police said handpulled
rickshaws and vans
were requested to avoid the
main roads.
After taking charge of the
Pleasant days ahead
for city: Met office
Our Correspondent
Kolkata: The pleasant
weather in the city, with
alternating clouded and
clear blue skies, cool breeze
and occasional rain will
continue for the next few
days, according to the
Alipore Meteorological
office on Thursday.
The Met office attributed
the pleasant weather to the
persistence of the monsoon
trough over Gangetic West
Bengal.
“There has been a considerable
amount of rainfall in
the state, including the city,
given the nature of the
monsoon trough and other
weather phenomenon associated
with it,” said an
Alipore Met department
official.
He said that for a trough
to get stronger it had to persist
in a region without any
movement. With the trough
persisting for a long period
of time, it has its effect on
the region in the form of
rain, thus, bringing down
the temperature.
“At present, the trough is
over Gangetic West Bengal
and is persistent, causing
sporadic rainfall across the
state. This weather will continue
to be pleasant as such
weather formations are
normal for this season of the
year,” added the Met official.
The Alipore met department
said the monsoon
trough was not the only factor
responsible for the rains.
When accompanied by
cyclonic circulation and low
pressure, the rain becomes
more intense, it said.
“This year, occasions of
low pressure and cyclonic
circulation have been more
frequent along with a persistent
monsoon trough
over Gangetic West Bengal.
This has resulted in widespread
rain across the state,”
the Met official said.
In its forecast, the Met
office said the skies over the
city would generally be
clouded along with few
spells of thundershowers.
“For the next 24 hours,
this weather will continue
and it will be mostly comfortable.
There is no abnormality
in the trough as the
cyclonic circulation present
over Orissa has moved
away to Chhattisgarh, but it
will have some effects
on the weather,” said
the met officer.
Chief minister
celebrates
Ganesh Chaturthi
Kolkata: The cries of ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya’ reverberated
in the air. No, it was not a scene from Mumbai but a sight
from the city itself. Like its western counterpart, the eastern
metropolis also warmly invited Lord Ganesh to be its guest
on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
And among those welcoming the divine guest was chief
minister Mamata Banerjee, who was a special guest at the
Maharashtra Mandal in south Kolkata. The chief minister
paid her respects to the deity. It was her first visit to the mandal
after assuming office. The chief minister never forgets to
visit the Mandal every year on Ganesh Chaturthi.
According to Pushpa Dhote, the secretary of Maharashtra
Mandal, Banerjee has held several
party meetings at the
Mandal in the past. “We had
formally invited her and sent
an invitation letter to the
Writers’ Buildings. She visits us
every year during Ganesh
Chaturthi and pays her
respects. Her visit was eagerly
expected this time too,” she
said.
Mamata Banerjee
Thursday marked the first
day of the Ganesh Chaturthi,
which will be celebrated over the next 10 days by devotees
across the city. Besides Maharashtrians, people from all communities
came to worship the elephant god. The idol of
Ganesha was commissioned from idol-makers of Kalighat
on Wednesday night and was formally installed after the
puja ceremony on Thursday.
Besides the Maharashtra Mandal, there were other organisations
which celebrated the festival. There were many people
at Manicktala, Hazra and Palmer Bazar road who also celebrated
the festival.
“Lord Ganesha signifies wealth and prosperity and we celebrate
the Ganesh festival so that he brings prosperity and
blesses us with good luck. We decided to celebrate it despite
the price hike,” said Hemant Dhavale, who had installed an
idol at Hazra Road.
There was a 30 per cent hike in the cost of Ganesha idols
this time and around 1,000 idols were sold by the artisans of
Kumartuli. According to the artisans at Kumartuli, the price
of Ganesh idols rose due to the inflation, but, people across
the city bought idols and prayed for the blessings of Ganesh.
� R K Pachananda inaugrates Purba Jadavpur police
station on thursday — Shyamal Chakroborty
new areas, the Kolkata Police
shifted many auto stands.
The auto stands along NSC
Bose Road, Taratala crossing,
M G Road and other areas
were moved to other areas.
“This step was taken to
make traffic smoother. There
are no broad roads. So it was
Our Correspondent
Kolkata: With laddoos being
the favourite sweet of Lord
Ganesh, sales of the delicious
sweet were brisk on Thursday
as people rushed to sweet
shops and confectioners to
buy the beloved sweet of
Gajanan.
Sweet shop owners said
the sale of laddoos were at an
all time high during the day.
“The sale of laddoos witnessed
a steep rise on the
occasion of Ganesh Chathurti
on Thursday. Numerous of
customers have come and
asked for the sweet in huge
quantities on the occasion,”
said Satish Sharma of
Gangaur sweet shop.
He said the shop sold only
one type of the sweet priced
at `340 per kilogramme.
decided to curb autos, rickshaws
and vans on the main
roads,” said joint commissioner
of police (headquarters)
Jawed Shamim at
Lalbazar.
In another initiative, officers
distributed leaflets
among the residents of the
Call for Peace
“Every day, we sell around 10
kilos of the sweet and today
on the occasion of Ganesh
Chathurthi the sales doubled,”
added Sharma. The
story was much the same at
Ganguram, another confec-
added areas to inform them
of their new police stations.
The 17 new police stations
were created out of nine former
South 24-Parganas
police stations.
However, many of the new
police stations are not fully
prepared to take charge,
except for the Rajabagan
police station.
A few have been constructed
with temporary
materials and have no lockups
as yet. Therefore, those
arrested under the jurisdiction
of those police stations
will be taken to the central
lock-up.
“We are trying to solve the
problem of added area police
stations,” said Shamim.
Pachnanda also held a
separate meeting with all
officers in-charge and other
senior officers of the 17
police stations for better
policing of the new areas.
� Anti-war rally organised by Sara Bharat Shanti O Sanghati Sanstha in kolkata
on Thursday — Shyamal Chakroborty
Sahid Minar to get fresh
coat of paint & lights
Our Special
Correspondent
Kolkata: The Sahid Minar,
once the most prominent
landmark in the city along
with the Howrah bridge
and a must-see for
tourists, has now lost
much of its sheen. Its
gleaming white has paled
and the lights around the
dome have stopped burning.
Chief minister Mamata
Banerjee, who wants the
city to be as beautiful as
London, is keen to see that
the pristine glory of the
beautiful tower, a mixture
of Syrian, Egyptian and
Turkish schools of architecture,
is restored. She
wants the structure
painted afresh and illumination
revived.
Public works department
secretary A R
Bardhan, who visited the
Minar on Thursday, told
journalists at the Writers’
Buildings that the state
heritage commission
would be consulted before
the tower is given a fresh
coat of paint. “It should be
white including the dome
so that it attracts light
from the tall buildings
overlooking it from the
east,” he said.
The dome had been
painted red during the
United Front regime in the
Sixties when the then
government rechristened
it, too. It was previously
known as the Ochterlony
Monument and put up by
the East India Company in
1828 to mark the victory
of Sir David Ochterlony in
the 1814-16 Nepal campaign.
Bardhan said the illumination
was previously
being provided by CESC.
“We’ve to find out if they
will resume it. Otherwise,
the department will take
upon the responsibility
itself.” He said proper
landscaping of the Sahid
Minar’s surroundings
would also be taken up to
make it more attractive
and ensure a cleaner environment.
It was not immediately
known whether tourists
would be allowed to go up
to the top by negotiating
218 spiral steps. The
authorities had clamped a
ban on visitors’ going up
to the top to take an aerial
view of the city in the
early Seventies following a
suicide attempt.
The secretary said a
decision to reopen it to the
public would be taken
after consultations with
the army and the Kolkata
Police.
Asked about the costs
for the renovation initiative,
the official said
the question would
come once the basic
objectives had been identified
and cleared
for implementation.
tioner.
“People are flocking to the
shop and asking for sweets in
huge amounts. We have sold
from 12 pieces to 70 pieces at
a time on this occasion,” said
Manish Chaurasia of
Ganguram at Chowringee
Road. Ganguram, which normally
sells around 200-250
pieces of laddoos every day,
sold around 1,000 pieces of
the sweet on Thursday.
“The laddoo is used for various
purposes on Ganesh
Chathurthi. While few offer it
as prasad to God, some gift a
packet of the sweet to their
family members. Out of all
the sweets, this makes for a
favourite,” said Gopal Sharma
from Haldirams at
Burrabazar.
Sharma further said that
there were primarily two
types of laddoos — one variety
made using vegetable oil
and another made using
ghee. “Although the laddoos
made of ghee are costlier,
they are the favourites,”
added Sharma.
Kolkata Friday September 2, 2011
www.thebengalpost.com
Private hospitals
in a fix over apex
court’s ruling
Our Correspondent
Kolkata: Private hospitals
find themselves in a fix
over a Supreme Court ruling
on Thursday, directing
them to provide free treatment
to people below the
poverty line.
The board of directors
and the management of
such hospitals in the city
are yet to take a decision.
Subhamoy Dutta
Chaudhuri, the director of
state health services, said
that the court’s aim was to
make scientific and proper
health services accessible
to all sections of the society.
“The judgment by the
Supreme Court was a bold
step in this
direction. We will formulate
a detailed approach to
the issue after studying
the interpretation
provided by our legal cell,”
he said.
While
most of privatehospitals
have
special
packages
and offers for poor and BPL
category patients, some
are thinking of increasing
such facilities.
“We do have such packages,
in which the people
from the BPL category are
given rebates. There are
times when we have given
them special discounts for
their inability to pay,” said
a spokesperson of Fortis
hospitals.
“We cannot comment
on this recent ruling but
will definitely take a stand
after our management
takes a decision,”the officer
added.
Private hospitals are
� File photo of Shahid Minar
Ladoo sales rise on Ganesh Chaturthi
Supreme Court
directed the
private hospitals
to provide free
treatment to people
below the
poverty line
FREE TREATMENT
TO BPL PEOPLE
taking their time to decide
their stand as they are not
sure about the details of
the judgment. “We are not
sure about the implication
and what
exactly the
judgment
says,” said
Udayan
Lahiri, CEO
of Medica super specialty
hospital.
We will take a little bit
of time to study and assess
it. We are going through
the details and we will
decide our stand soon, he
added.
Hospitals such as
Ruby and Peerless were
also waiting to go through
the judgment.
“We’ve not decided
what stand to take
because it will take us
time to go through the
order’s details,” said
Nivedita Ghosh, chief
operating officer of
Peerless Hospitals.
Traders
meet
Bidhannagar
chairperson
Our Correspondent
Kolkata: Traders of two market
areas located in
Bidhannagar —Sukantanagar
and Baisakhi — on Thursday
submitted their complaints
and suggestions to improve
the complexes to municipality
chairperson Krishna
Chakraborty on Thursday.
The executive members of
the Baisakhi Bazaar Babsayi
Samiti told Chakraborty that
there were faults in the allotments
at the newly constructed
complex. The committee
members from
Sukantanagar complained
that the market area had now
become a shelter for criminals.
“For the past three decades,
we have had temporary sheds
at the Baishakhi market. The
new building was meant to
give us permanent stalls. But,
there are lot of loopholes in
the way the allotted shops
have been distributed,” said
Tapan Saha, the secretary of
the Baishakhi Bazaar Babsayi
Samity. He said that around
190 businessmen were promised
proper relocation but the
distribution of the shops did
not match the profile of the
business.
“Many people selling vegetables
or rations have been
given shops on the upper tier,
thus, hampering their business
as customers miss the
shops at their usual places.
We have also not got the
transfer of ownership for the
shops hence, we are still
under the label of temporary
businessmen,” added Saha.
Asim Guha, the secretary of
ward 19 in Sukantanagar,
raised the issue of criminals
taking shelter in the market.
The chairperson promised
to look into their problems. “I
will discuss the problems
individually. There are many
constraints faced by the
municipality, the financial
crunch being one of the
biggest problems. We will fix
all the problems,” she assured.