State to air grouse with Centre

This was revealed by Minister for Urban Development Ashok Bhattacharya,who will visit Delhi on December 3 to attend a national seminar on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The seminar will be inaugurated by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Ministers from all states will attend the meeting,which will review the progress of projects under JNNURM.

“We received a letter from the World Bank which requested us to remove the ceiling,” said Bhattacharya.

He said on November 8,the state received another letter from the finance ministry,which also referred to the World Bank advice and requested for a Bill in the Assembly on the removal of the land ceiling.

“We consider it an affront on the sovereignty of the country. How can an international agency dictate terms to a sovereign country? If we remove the ceiling,it will be a boon for big realtors and land sharks. I will raise the issue at the seminar,” said Bhattacharya,who presided over a meeting of representatives of state civic boards on the progress of projects under JNNURM in Bengal on Wednesday.

The Centre has been urging the state to repeal the Act — in Kolkata,the ceiling is 7.5 cottah.

The decisions taken on Wednesday’s meeting included the ban on all motorised vehicles in Durgapur to make the city as pollution free as possible. “Only cycles and cycle-rickshaws will ply along the 27 km-long road crisscrossing the city,” Bhattacharya said.