Bypass to extend till Baruipur

Next month on a Sunday the residents’ association to which I belong is planning a picnic to a Baruipur baganbari (cottage with large garden). Not everyone is enthusiastic since many feel the road to the place is extremely bad. Someone did a recce early this month, and the opinion that emerged was not promising.

The Bypass is more or less okay till the Garia connector, but beyond that, especially after Kamalgaji, barring a few patches of relief it’s a world of craters – small, big, and every size in between.

For us the fun of having the picnic far outweighs the inconvenience for a single day, but for those who have to commute everyday it must be the sort of experience one supposedly faces in the hell.

This may be changing soon, for better. Come 2008, the city will witness the starting of 5 road projects to alleviate the sufferings of people as announced by the urban development minister. Of the 5, one is the extension of Bypass to Baruipur.

There are reasons why Baruipur must be connected with a wide thoroughfare. First, the town is to become the district HQ of 24 Parganas (South) that is now housed in the prime city locale of Alipur. Second, the Barasat-Raichak expressway to be built by the Salim Group is said to have been planned to pass via Baruipur.

And third, because of the above 2 the big-time realtors have already begun to bet big on Baruipur. This means there will likely be huge townships coming up here in the coming decade and beyond.

Okay, what else are there in the 5 projects? They are (in order of importance according to me):

1. Rebuilding of flyover near Baghajatin station (a vital EM Bypass link across rail track)
2. Sewerage and drainage in Sector V
3. Flyover at Dunlop (beats me why it wasn’t done while the Nivedita Bridge was being constructed; speaks volumes of government’s ineptitude)
4. 2 ramps to the AJC Bose Road flyover at Beckbagan

It will be yet another round of ‘suffer today, smile tomorrow’ for the city’s citizens. The irony so far is that there is never a tomorrow to smile. Will it change this time?