The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) plans to form an apex committee comprising representatives of residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and registered housing societies across New Town along with officials of NKDA to address civic issues.
“The committee will have representations from all RWAs and registered housing societies in New Town, and a chief engineer and others from NKDA. The committee may meet once a fortnight through video conference where local civic issues and grievances can be heard and addressed,” said NKDA chairman Debashis Sen.
Samaresh Das, chairman of New Town Forum and News (NTFN), an umbrella organisation of resident forums in New Town, said the idea was mooted before Sen and other officials on Saturday. Das said they often receive complaints about different local civic issues, but there was no common platform for the NKDA to address them. “Having such a committee will immensely help,” Das said.
Some common issues that residents bring up include haphazard dumping of construction materials, pavement encroachment, illegal parking, garbage dumped on the streets and vacant plots.
“Till now, there is no common platform where residents can bring up these issues before the NKDA on a regular basis. Having such a committee will be very useful,” said Partha Majumder, a resident of a housing complex in Action Area II.
NKDA officials said there is already a 24-hour helpline which is strictly monitored. “We regularly review any civic issue or public grievance received through the helpline,” an official said.