Kolkata’s east is the new destination all are scrambling to get into. Not without reason. City’s east has been expanding at a fast pace, and it’s not just New Town at Rajarhat. The entire belt to the east of EM Bypass too is seeing a spree in expansion. However, if you’ve seen how Gurgaon, Navi Mumbai (or Bandra-Kurla complex for that matter), Koramangala and other places have developed, you’d know Kolkata’s east is yet to arrive on the ‘scene’.
The recipe of massive facelift is however ready for cooking. It is ironic that the place I stay, called Purba Diganta (meaning the end of east), is no longer so. Skirted by EM Bypass, across the artery, is coming up the huge store of German self-service wholesaler, Metro Cash & Carry. Not far from here is planned a Healthciti (see my post, Neotia Elbit Healthciti) by Bengal Ambuja group. And to the north, the largish plot located between ITC Sonar Bangla and Silver Springs will expectedly see another 5-star (or is it 7-star?) hotel coming up.
But undoubtedly the biggest action is happening in New Town. There are many pluses going for it. The entire area (about 3 times that of Salt Lake) has been acquired by the states housing department, after which it has been developed (see this post, Cradling New Town] and infrastructure built.
Which means New Town is ready for the take for any property developer. No wonder the rush to be part of this abode is palpable. Every other day, new projects are being announced, each of which promises to be a grand showpiece. The latest in the news is the proposed ‘green business park’, Synthesis, a 650,000 sq ft twin-tower commercial property to be built by Bengal Shrachi by March 2009.
Educational institutes and health facilities are also dashing to New Town. After IIT Kharagpur’s plan for a new campus and Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital’s new ultra-modern project (see this post, Tatas plan more), schools too are hotfooting there.
Church of North India (CNI) has ambitious plans to build new campuses for schools like La Martiniere (both boys’ and girls’ adjacent to one another like it is on AJC Bode Road now), Pratt Memorial, St. Joseph and others. Also on the anvil is an export-import management institute, albeit on Bypass, to be set up by Union commerce ministry.
Clearly, New Town is busy welcoming fresh arrivals each day. It’ll be a glistening destination, no doubt there. As the tempo picks up, there are plans to extend metro service and suburban train facility there.
After that, after New Town firmly justifies its pride as the place to be at, it’ll be the turn of government departments to make their entry in already-earmarked lucrative plots. By then, if land acquisition imbroglio is effectively tackled, the focus will shift to further east and south to places like Baruipur and Barasat-Kukrahati expressway. That must be at least a decade away from now.
Uniworld City – one of many [Picture source]
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