Promises, promises everywhere, not a road built: People of Krishnanagar tell Left Front candidate
Roads that take to the cities, to the schools and to work are what the people of Krishnanagar were assured by their star M. P. Tapash Pal in the last elections. He never kept their promises. During this election, he has come back with the same promises. But now the people of Krishnanagar are more cautious with their choice and are standing in support of the Left Front candidate Dr. Santanu Jha. Dr. Jha has been giving a patient hearing to their concerns.
The work of the village roads redevelopment, which began under the Left Front government have come to a halt. Tapash Pal had shown dreams of better lives to the people of Krishnanagar during road shows in 2009. In 2014, Pal’s campaign is missing from the same village roads, which have crumbled due to lack of maintenance. Over the last five years, leaving aside the building of newer roads, the older works started under the Left Front have also stopped.
Promises were many; the fast completion of the road connecting Krishnanagar and Mathurapur under the Prime Minister’s road building scheme, and changing the cane bridge over the Jalongi river, which joins the Krishnanagar North and South assembly constituencies, into a permanent structure. These promises have long been forgotten. The cane structure of the Jalongi Bridge is used by more than 5,000 people every day. But the structure is slowly becoming weak, and travelling is becoming risky. The residents of Krishnanagar counted the number of road development projects undertaken by the Left Front government, as compared to none initiated by the TMC; their hopes have been shattered.
Fishing community cnsists of almost 5 % of the population of Mathurapur. Every morning at 4 AM, they go out to fish and then head towards the market, using the ever-weakening cane bridge. Their despair and anger came out in the anguish over the failing condition of the roads and bridges. It is not just the case of the Jalongi Bridge, but also the bridge over Palda and the Bashberia Ghat that needs attention. Under the Left Front, the initial work of the redevelopment of the 12 km road between Deierbazar to Nelua, via Krishnapur Ghat and Bhimpur, had started. Since the TMC came to power, the work has stopped. The completion of these roads would have meant relief for the residents and smoothened their daily travel and increased connectivity with Kolkata.
The concerted efforts of the villagers, compelled the authorities to start the work of the road between Gobrapota and Haronagar, the project which was under the threat of getting crushed by the ruling TMC. However, here too, since four years, the work has not moved beyond the laying of bricks. The residents of the area are now awaiting the visit of Tapash Pal asking for votes to question him over the future of these projects.
The people of Krishnanagar saw the Chief Minister announcing several road development projects on their television sets. They saw her inaugurating and cutting ribbons of several roads, which had been already completed under the Left Front government. But in reality the villagers of Krishnanagar have not had the fortune of receiving any new roads under the present government. Many road projects constructed in the years of the Left Front government have been falsely accounted as the work of the present Mamata rule.
The official data speak the truth about the state of development in West Bengal. In the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, 95, 144, 131, 65 and 54 road projects had been completed. Therefore, under the TMC government, there has been a great slump in the rate of development. In Nadia district, post 2012, not even a km of road has been built; the data has not been published fearing shame.
Grievances of the people of Krishnanagar are not just about roads. It also pertains to the assurances made to them by the incumbent TMC MP of the development of railway routes, bridges, colleges and hospitals in their constituency. They are asking what happened to the promises made to them for the redevelopment of the river embankments. Now the people are seeing the false assurances as a cheap election trick used by the TMC to win votes from the victims of regular river flooding. Since the Mamata Banerjee government came to power, no efforts to redevelop the river embankments have been initiated by them, although, seventy percent of the funds come from the central government.
Therefore, with increasing price rise, agrarian crisis and unemployment on the one hand and the ever increasing grievances of the people, Krishnanagar is gearing up to teach a lesson to the ruling TMC government. They are ready to elect the Left Front candidate Dr.Santanu Jha for restarting the stalled development of the region; they are daring to hope for better days to come.
May 2, 2014