‘No district will be able to compare with Baruipur’

Express news service, Posted: Mar 06, 2008 at 0147 hrs

Kolkata, March 5: The gesture shown by Baruipur residents to hand over their lands for setting up a new administrative centre and the proposed township in South 24 Parganas has made Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee happy since it comes at a time when every land acquisition by the state government runs into a controversy.

"We are in talks with the Centre for setting up seven to eight education hubs in the township. Four of them have already been approved," Bhattacharjee said at the foundation laying ceremony of the new district headquarters of South 24 Parganas here. At present, the district headquarters of the district is at Alipore.

"In future, Baruipur will be the finest centre of education and no other district can compare with it," the chief minister added.

He said that the work has already begun for setting up of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research there along with three dedicated research centres for biodiversity, oceanology and a nanotechnology.

The foundation stone for the EM Bypass connector was also laid. The extension will now connect Kamalgazi to Padmapukur. Both these projects will be executed by the KMDA.

The new location will have the offices of the district magistrate, superintendent of police, district courts and jails and Zila Parishad.

Besides, the district hospital, which is now in Bangur, will also be shifted here. Of the 500 acres of land acquired for the new township, the administrative centre will occupy 143 acres.

"Funds to the tune of Rs 53 crore have been sanctioned under the JNNURM for the new four-lane extension which will form a dedicated bus route from Ultadanga to Baruipur," said state urban developmenxt minister Ashok Bhattacharya, who was also present on the occasion.

The function was attended by state land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah, irrigation and waterways minister Subhas Naskar, Sunderbans Development Affairs minister Kanti Ganguly , MP Sujan Chakrabarty and officials of KMDA.