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New faces, old excuse
At a recent interactive session at a chamber of commerce, minister for PWD Kshiti Goswami was heard rueing that everytime he went to Delhi he found a new chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Result: “Every time I have to explain why land acquisition has become very difficult in the state and highway projects run into trouble. It’s so frustrating,” the minister said.
Picture perfect Mamata!
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has entered the big league. She is now one of the great men and women of Bengal whose portraits adorn the walls of Bengali households.
At Trinamool Congress rallies and other programmes, portraits of the Trinamool leader, along with that of Rabindranath Tagore, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Swami Vivekanand, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, are seen selling briskly. “There is a big demand for Didi’s picture and that’s not just among the party members and supporters,” said a hawker selling the portraits in front of Mahajati Sadan.
Forgotten rescue unit
The state police have cited traffic snarls on VIP Road to explain why the Disaster Management Group (DMG) reached the accident site of Keshtopur late on April 4. The reason, sources said, was that the authorities had forgotten that the police had a specialised DMG under Kolkata Police for rescue efforts in drowning incidents.
The DMG, stationed at the police training school at Alipore, reached the accident spot over three hours after the bus fell into the canal.
Shifting sands at Lalbazar
Now, transfer bug has bitten the Kolkata police. Yesterday, 52 senior officers, known to be loyalists of former police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, were transferred from police stations to posts in Enforcement Branch, Detective Department and security control. These are popularly regarded as punishment posts. Many of the officers had only spent about a year in the posts. The move seems to have created panic in the ranks. Everybody is scared that he or she may be the next in line. The officers have started hectic lobbying to show loyalty to the present commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborti.
Dancing attendance
The security personnel have their hands full before the inaugural run of the Indo-Bangla train. Most of them are posted on a round-the- clock vigil with only hour-long breaks at meal times. A high profile function, including ministers from Centre and the state will attend the inaugural function. “Even if we are not in uniform, we have to be around in civil clothes to keep a tab on the goings on,” said a RPF personnel posted there.
“We do not have a moment to spare and go back home even if there is something really urgent. All we have to tell our wives is ‘manage kore nao’ (manage it yourself),” said another RPF personnel.
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