September 8, 2009

Pathetic Kolkata

These are probably my last few days in Kolkata which I still prefer to call Calcutta.
I have been increasingly feeling that the tag of a Metro should be stripped off this city. This is a B-Grade Metro at best.
Just today we got the news that the State Govt has scrapped the IT projects in Rajarhat. That's after the Singur fiasco. Awesome...
Looking at the state of the Salt Lake Sector V which is the IT "Park", I am glad there won't be another IT park in this city. Honesty I can't tell if the STP is in the middle of a garbage dumping yard or the dumping yard in the middle of the STP. In any case, you can't tell the difference for the stinky trash is strewn all around, wherever you go.
There are no sidewalks for pedestrians - talking about "engineering".
Actually they were there on some roads, but now they are occupied either by vendors or are being used as Free Parking Spots. So people walk on the street and cars rest on the footpath. The rest of the vehicles are parked on the roadside garbage dumps. Yeah you may drive a BMW or a Mercedes, but you will park it on a stinky mound of trash just like everyone else. Quite humbling isn't it. But that's the way of a socialist/communist society.
It's raining cats and dogs today. And all the streets are submerged in 2-3 ft water.
Streets of the STP. For some reason the residential area of Salt Lake does considerably well. Unfortunately, the area which brings in the revenue is getting worse each passing day. I can't wait to go and live some place else.