Mayor pledges to make aments.

The Telegraph Calcutta Monday 3 Septemper 2007

Civic body wakes up to Chinatown.

"Mayor pledges to make amends.
Deepankar Canguly.

Chinatown binds Calcutta to several cities in the world. Including London, Bangkok, Paris and Yokohama.
But while in every other city the pocket of Chinese habitation is a major tourist draw, it’s an eyesore in Calcutta, thanks to the apathy of the civic authorities.
The two sq-km- walled township in east Calcutta, which once housed tanneries, is not linked with civic water supply system and is overrun with filth, as there is not sewerage network. Even the roads there, are not maintained by Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC).
But the situation is likely to change, with mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya deciding to make amends for the civic neglect extending over 50 years.
“ I think we should have thought about the locality much earlier,” said mayor who claimed the neglect was fallout of the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962.
“ Drains, water and roads are the areas the civic body will primarily focus onto improve the condition of Chinatown,” said municipal commissioner Alapan Bandapadhyay, who has held a meeting with civic engineers to chalk out the upgraded plan.
Chinatown, comprising wards 58 and 66, extends from Chingrihata in the north to EM Bypass in the south and from Hatgachhia in the east to Christopher Road in the west.
Even 10 years ago, when tanneries were thriving in the area, there were over 2,000 Chinese in Chinatown.
Following the Supreme Court ban on tanneries within the city limits, the number has swindles to 1,000. While several tannery owners refused to shift to the Bantola leather complex and turned their establishments into eateries, quite a few young Chinese from the area left the city to settle abroad.
Of the 500 odd tanneries that operated from Chinatown, only 45 have shifted to Angola.
Local councilor Javed Ahmed Khan ( Trinamul Congress) and Lakshminmoni Banerjee (CPM) have welcome CMC’s decision to extend civic services to Chinatown.
Banerjee, however, claimed that she on her own had started projects in the area."

This event give a boost to our desire to work for a better indentity for the Territti Baza Chinatown. We welcome everyone to join us in this endeavour.
- Indian Chinese Association for Culture, Welfare and Development.