Mamata sells voters a beautified Kolkata

“I am seeking your vote on the basis of sheer performance,” she has been telling voters. “In our 3½ years in government and five years in KMC, we have made Kolkata cleaner and a greener city. I can challenge you, compare Kolkata with Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, and Kolkata will emerge the best city in terms of civic services.”

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The KMC and various government wings have pumped in over Rs 3,000 crore into infrastructure and aesthetics. The work done has included a wider supply of drinking water, less garbage and trident lights on streets, besides beautified parks and gardens.

Mamata, in fact, has vowed to transform Kolkata into a London, something her opponents have scoffed at. Her plans include a giant Kolkata Wheel at Rs 300 crore on the Hooghly, after the London Eye on the Thames.

“In Delhi, you have to buy your water. In Mumbai and Bangalore, you have to pay high taxes,” Mamata said at a rally in central Kolkata. “In Kolkata, I have resisted any move to impose water tax and still have maintained and augmented supplies. Has any other city in India done that?… Trinamool Congress is Number One. Kolkata is Number One. Bengal is on top.”

The KMC has 144 wards; the Trinamool holds 95. In 2010, the Trinamool and the Congress contested in alliance for the then 141 seats. This time the Trinamool is looking at 110 to 120.

The opposition

Rupa Bagchi, leader of the opposition (CPM) in the outgoing board, refuses to credit the Trinamool. “Whatever projects are being completed, and on the basis of which Mamata is seeking votes, had all begun during the Left Front government. Take the Jai Hind water project or the Dhapa water pumping station or the underpass near Ultadanga railway station; all are ongoing projects of the Left Front regime. The Trinamool board is shamelessly claiming credit,” Bagchi said.

There are unfulfilled promises, she said, citing slum improvement schemes. The last Trinamool manifesto had talked about a model basti in each ward, but work on only one has begun.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee dismissed the Left. “Their seats may barely touch double digits. We have seen how the municipal board run by the CPM had performed,” he said.

BJP national observer Siddhartha Nath Singh said the poll outcome will not reflect the outgoing board’s performance. “The Trinamool is resorting to terror and the polls are going to be far from free and fair,” Singh said.

The Trinamool has virtually wiped out the Congress. Of 10 sitting Congress councillors, eight are contesting on TMC tickets. Santosh Pathak, one of the remaining two and close to Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, said he too was made an “offer”. “If the opposition’s voice is nil, there will be no need for the rulers to explain anything. This is exactly what the Trinamool wanted and they have been successful to an extent. Also look at the discrimination. Because I am a sitting Congress councillor, no trident light has been installed in my ward at BBD Bag, the gateway to Kolkata,” said Pathak.

Get more, pay same

“The biggest achievement of the present board is the guideline by Mamata not to raise water tax or property tax. Kolkata today may boast to be the only metropolitan city that gives its residents water free,” said Atin Ghosh, a member, mayor-in-council, at the board for 30 years.

“Didi told us to generate revenue through other means like sale of land but not to burden the citizens. So, the better services have come with no hidden costs. Besides, the corporation gave a waiver scheme for defaulting taxpayers. It has augmented revenue by over 15 per cent,” said Ghosh.

Corporation officials say the KMC has an annual budget of about Rs 2,500 crore, out of which 60 per cent is spent on salary to 32,000 employees and 6,000-7,000 casual workers. The remaining 40 per cent, about Rs 1,000 crore, goes into development. Nearly Rs 3,000 crore has been spent on improvement of physical infrastructure in three years, they said.

Foreign missions

The change in Kolkata has earned appreciation from various quarters, including French Consul General in Kolkata Fabrice Etienne, who worked here in 1995-6 and came back in 2012. “I do agree there have been many improvements. If you look at the beautified Prinsep Ghat, the Hooghly riverbank, these have been wonderfully done,” he said. “But what has been achieved will have to be followed up with a proactive approach in collaboration with groups working on conservation, environment… A lot needs to be done in easing traffic congestion and in controlling urban pollution. The French government and French companies are interested in coming to see what they can offer in terms of better climate, water and waste management.”

The UK is providing technical assistance up to £1 million for a climate-smart Kolkata. During David Cameron’s visit in 2013, Minister for Energy & Climate Change Greg Barker signed a memorandum of understanding with the mayor. The British government looks at Kolkata as “extremely vulnerable” to climate change and large-scale urbanisation. The British deputy high commission has been working closely with the KMC to address these issues, said a commission official.