Hoarding assault on heritage

KOLKATA: A drive down Chittaranjan Avenue will become tougher in the next few months as giant view-blocker hoardings add to the clutter on one of the city's busiest thoroughfares and rob you of the soothing sight of old Calcutta charms like Victoria House.
A big slice of the city's priceless heritage will soon disappear behind the facade of a Rs 7-crore 'beautification drive' undertaken by the KMC in blatant violation of the chief minister's diktat to keep heritage zones free of commercial hoardings.The corporation plans to install monopoles - each 20 feet tall with an electronic hoarding (16 feet wide and eight feet tall) on either side - along the entire stretch of CR Avenue from Statesman House to Bagbazar and then extend it to the Shyambazar five-point crossing as part of a plan to beautify the median verge. Sixteen monopoles, which will be installed at a distance of 200 metres from each other, have already been sanctioned for the three-phase programme - the first from Victoria House to Mohammed Ali Park, the second on the stretch up to Durgacharan Mitra Street and the third till Shyambazar crossing. The heritage wealth of CR Avenue, like Victoria House, Mahajati Sadan, Calcutta Medical College and Girish Ghosh's residence, might be partially or entirely blocked from view once the monopoles are placed. Traffic experts also warned of an increased danger of accidents as the hoardings could cause problems for drivers, especially in the bumper-to-bumper traffic on CR Avenue all day.
Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, however, said the hoardings wouldn't obstruct the view of heritage buildings or make driving difficult. "We have planned the hoardings along CR Avenue as part of the beautification of the street. The matter was discussed with the police and city planners. The hoardings will be erected at a certain height to ensure they don't cause problems for drivers," Chatterjee said.
The KMC plans to rent out each hoarding for Rs 1,30,00000 for three years, an abrupt U-turn from the drive against hoardings last year. Soon after coming to power last May, Mamata Banerjee had asked mayor Sovan Chatterjee to remove hoardings in the area from BBD Bag to Park Circus as the stretch was declared a heritage zone by the state heritage commission. Urban experts, historians and city planners cheered the move. Just over a year later, the hand that brought them joy now threatens to snatch it away.
Apart from CR Avenue, the 'beatification plan' - which will also widen median verges to three feet and lead to narrowing of thoroughfares without a plan to widen the flanks - will be cloned on Sarat Bose Road, Rashbehari Avenue (from Rashbehari-SP Mukherjee Road intersection to Chetla bridge), CIT Road, Suhrawardy Avenue and Sundari Mohan Avenue.
The West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHC) has the power to recommend the demolition of all "illegal" hoardings along the city's heritage zones, said Barun De, former WBHC chairman. Shuvaprasanna, the commission's current chairperson, said monopoles on CR Avenue weren't desirable, but added, "Display of advertisements through hoardings is an integral part of city's beautification."
Though the mayor said the police were in the loop, Dilip Adak, deputy commissioner (I) of Kolkata traffic police, said he wasn't aware of the plan. "No commercial hoarding is allowed on the median verge of a major thoroughfare. We only allow hoardings that carry public awareness messages. I have to find out what the exact plan is, including that for hoardings along Chittaranjan Avenue, before I approve them," Adak said.
Satyajit Majumder, general secretary of the Federation of West Bengal Truck Owners' Association, said the electronic hoardings would distract drivers. "Nowhere in India are commercial advertisements displayed through electronic boards in the median verge of a major thoroughfare. It may distract drivers," he said.
Former mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya criticized the Trinamool Congress-run civic body for sanctioning hoardings along the heritage zones. "While on the one hand, the CM is talking tough against hoardings in heritage zones, the mayor is selling the city's space to hoarding agencies. This will not only flout the heritage rules but also cause road accidents," Bhattacharya said. KMC opposition leader Rupa Bagchi echoed his views.