Governments have to be visionary. It means planning. But what use is having a vision when it is not complemented by action? There is a case in sight where our State Government demonstrated vision but lacked action. This perhaps happens in many other cases if thee come to the knowledge of the public. Presently, we are hinting at the non-utilization of the land given on lease to the J&K Government by the West Bengal Government way back in 1988.
Two plots of land measuring 4 kanals and 2.5 kanals, in all 6.5 kanals, in prestigious Salt Lake locality of Kolkata were leased out to J&K Government by the West Bengal Government in 1988. The J&K Government had two projects in mind. One was to build multi-level cold store, and the other was to raise Kissan Bhawan. The idea behind the two projects was sound, and would have been helpful to horticulturists and agriculturist of the State. The idea of cold storage project was to help Kashmir horticulturists in storing the Kashmir apple and vegetables in West Bengal because owing to lack of this facility, Kashmir apple was not accessible to the consumers in Kolkata. Likewise the Kissan Bhawan was meant to provide lodgement facilities to J&K horticulturists desirous of conducting trade in agricultural and horticulture products with counterparts in West Bengal. But the State Government could not execute the projects within stimulated time. The lease was about to come to an end. Twice did the State Government approach the West Bengal Government for extension of lease and both the times the latter obliged. Still the State Government could not raise structures on the allotted land and it is now again about to come to the end of the lease period.
In the wake of this situation the Horticulture Minister, Raman Bhalla raised the matter with the Chief Minister and impressed upon him that the State Government should not lose the prestigious plots of land in Kolkata and that his department was set to raise the structure on the allotted plots in case another one year of extension of lease was granted by West Bengal Government. Finding that the Horticulture Minister was serious in what he wanted to do because his predecessors had not focused their attention on such a vital opportunity for the state horticulturists of expanding their trade activities, the Chief Minister has written a letter to Mamta Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister, requesting her that she use her influence to give the third extension to the lease as the State Government was now determined to execute the project for which the land was leased to it.
We appreciate the Minister showing his earnestness in utilising the prestigious plots of land. We also appreciate the Chief Minister writing a personal letter to his counterpart in West Bengal. We know that the West Bengal Government is very sympathetic to our request. It understands very well that circumstances were not conducive for J&K Government during past two decades to undertake big projects even within the State. Disturbed conditions distracted the attention of the State Government from undertaking execution of many important projects including the one at Lake City region of Kolkata. There are hints that concerned quarters in Kolkata are considering the request very sympathetically.
But we need to remind the State Government that disturbed conditions in the State should not have been made a pretext for not taking any step in the direction of execution of the project on ground. If the Government was really determined, it could have done some spadework which it did not do. Moreover the Government cannot be a stickler in the matter of choosing a bidder for the project. Thus instead of running after the West Bengal Government, it should have concentrated on ground work. Anyway since the West Bengal Government is reported to be favourably disposed towards the request of the Chief Minister, we would impress upon the State Government to take a firm decision to begin the execution of the project in Kolkata and forget asking for fourth extension in the lease period. We would also like the concerned authorities in the State to examine why the project was deferred and why the Chief Minister was put in a situation that he had to write to the West Bengal Government. This is a much desired action to ensure that officials who take their duty non-seriously cannot escape reprimand. At the same time, we should appreciate the concern shown by the Horticulture Minister, Raman Bhalla in taking urgent step to see to it that the prestigious land does not slip out of the possession of the J&K Government.
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