KMC taps real estate developers to improve city

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city, has decided to impose conditions on real estate developers to restore city's infrastructure and greenery before sanctioning major projects. 

The aim is to involve real estate developers doing big projects in the city in the effort to make the city a better place to live in. 

As of now, KMC has asked three real estate developers in the city to pay Rs 6 crore each for building roads, sewerage lines, sanitation, and plant trees, at least around the developers' project sites to improve greenery and infrastructure in the areas. 

Going forward, more real estate developers will be roped in. 

As of now, the three real estate developers – Ruchi Realty, Ambuja Group, and a Bengali NRI Group – have agreed to pay Rs 6 crore each for civic work like maintaining and repairing roads and streetlights. 

While the developers agreed because they looked at it as a corporate social responsibility (CSR), KMC initiated it to improve greenery and infrastructure of the city. 

It is also CSR because, for instance, Ambuja Group's project at Chak Garia in Kolkata, which has the responsibility to construct roads and sewerage lines in the area, is expected to compensate for the scrapping of the green cover Ambuja had to undertake for the housing project. 

One of Ambuja Group's projects at Chak Garia in Kolkata will be one of the firsts to see improvement of roads and other civic amenities around it. 

According to Alapan Bandyopadhyay, commissioner of KMC, "KMC started approaching real estate developers to help make Kolkata a better place to live in. They should not only increase greenery but also contribute to improving the city's infrastructure, at least around their project sites. 

We have asked three developers so far and will be in talks with others for the cause. We felt Rs 6 crore per developer is a reasonable amount compared to the investments they are making in building the properties." 

According to Harsh Neotia, chairman of Ambuja Realty, "We agreed to pay Rs 6 crore. We already ensure there is a lot of greenery around our project sites, but responsibilities like maintaining roads and drainage work is something we cannot do on our own as we need KMC's permission for that. 

Moreover, road and pavement improvement work needs knowledge about the sewerage lines underneath, among other things. So, KMC's support here really helps because then we don't have to do any running around." 

Likewise, Ruchi Realty, a Madhya Pradesh-based group, will also pay Rs 6 crore for building roads and streetlights on DC Dey Road in Kolkata. One of Ruchi's first projects in Kolkata, the Group is constructing a G+19 project over 17 acres in the area. 

According to Shivam Asthana, Ruchi Group VP and project in-charge, the Group will not only take care of the civic amenities of the area but also provide sports facilities. 

A Bengali NRI Group, which will build the city's tallest residential project over the next three years close to Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata, has also agreed to pay Rs 6 crore to help build roads and waste treatment plants in the area. 

"We are thinking of other ways we could involve the real estate developers in restoring and improving city's infrastructure," added Bandhyopadhyay.