Gadkari to visit Siliguri next wk for infra push
Union Minister for Transport and Roadways Nitin Gadkari will visit Siliguri next week to launch the construction of the proposed 13 km four-lane elevated road along NH10 in the northern end of the city. The visit is said to be a part of the BJP’s plan to project that the party is keen on executing major infrastructure projects in north Bengal, where the saffron camp made deep inroads in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “The central government has sanctioned around Rs 1000 crore for the road project that will ease traffic congestion, a major problem in Siliguri. The Union Minister will be here on November 17 to initiate the project,’’ said Raju Bista, the BJP’s MP from Darjeeling.
Ex-contractor’s workers shut mess in IIM-C
Students at IIM Calcutta alleged that after the students’ council decided to bring in a new mess contractor for a hostel, workers of the former contractor forcibly shut down the mess of all hostels on the campus. The students said the workers protested at the institute’s main gate and prevented food delivery personnel from entering the campus on Tuesday. The new contractor, who was hired on November 4, is in- charge of New Hostel. The students alleged that mess services were shut down at Old Hostel, White Hostel and Lake View Hostel. An official of the institute said, “We are trying to resolve the situation as early as possible.”
Kolkata civic body to hike property tax
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to increase property tax by 20 per cent for those properties whose tax has not been reassessed since 2012, said an official of the civic body. The property owners will be given a final chance to self-calculate their tax under the unit area assessment, the new system of tax calculation that was introduced in 2017, and submit it to the civic body by December 13. If they fail, their next tax bill will be prepared with a 20 per cent hike over the previous amount and it will be considered that they have shifted to the unit area assessment method, the official said.
Pranab mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal
pranabm@newindianexpress.com