There are many ways to differentiate a Kolkattan from his another city-mate. Living in city’s north or south is one. Supporting East Bengal or Mohun Bagan is another. Traveling by rail or bus is yet another.
I use the word ‘rail’, but more aptly it ought to be suburban trains, because after all who wouldn’t have traveled in metro or tram for that matter, both of which run on rails. But I’ve come across many Kolkattans who would rather not prefer anything other than buses to commute.
Of that surely there are many a choice, but to tell it frankly, Kolkata buses are the worst I’ve seen in any big Indian city. Strange they – especially the blue-colored smoke-belching extremely uncomfortable box-like ‘private’ ones – haven’t changed over time. Which obviously points to a powerful vested interest in act.
If buses are not changing, one has nothing else to do except fret and fume. However, Kolkata’s face is gradually changing so far traveling on rail is concerned. The tram tracks for example are largely concretized and there is a lurking hope that the present age-old tramcars are shortly due for replacement.
But it’s the metro that is now the talking point. One hears that east-west metro is going to happen at long last, a 19 km journey from Salt Lake to Howrah Maidan, passing beneath the Hooghly and touching important transit points like Sealdah, Howrah and BBD Bag. Most of this is planned on elevated track with some portions to be underground.
Down south, the existing metro is extending from Tollygunge to Garia and one hopes it will soon be operational. And now, in the north, its route is likely to extend from Dum Dum to Baranagar, an eleven km addition. Newspaper reports say the Baranagar extension may be included in forthcoming railway budget.
Another hope-invoking plan is to build light-rail-transit or LRT from Joka to Esplanade. If this happens, it’ll be a great succor for people in Behala and thereabouts because presently the only connection available there is the severely-congested Diamond Harbor Road, where in spite of its being a wide enough passage, traffic indiscipline is so head-churning that it defies plain logic as to why this must really be tolerated that way.
Whatever it is, you can’t blame Kolkattans for being not tolerant. There is no real choice to speak of. Like many ills that plague the city, and indeed the people at large, commuting is a big nightmare.
The government in power close to 3 decades has very little imagination and willingness to break away from the mold. As a result, whatever it plans, some of which as said above are really good, are seen as ad hoc measures at best, because in the end nothing much transforms on ground.
One wonders if ever that will change, big plans notwithstanding. If not, it won’t be wrong to rank Kolkata among the worst cities to live in so far commuting is concerned.
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