West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee
Credit: PTI Photo/Kunal Patil
The Visva-Bharati University, a central varsity in West Bengal’s Santiniketan, has requested Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “return” a road that she “took back” before the assembly elections in 2021.
In a letter written to the chief minister, Bidyut Chakrabarty, vice chancellor, has stated that the road taken back in 2021 was put under PWD’s control.
The university, recently, received Unesco’s world heritage inscription. “In view of the Santiniketan’s recognition as a World Heritage Site, we have now greater responsibility to safeguard this heritage site. Under these circumstances, I earnestly request you to help us maintain the Ashram area to retain the tag for us and also for the posterity (sic),” Chakrabarty stated.
The letter adds that the road should be made free of vehicles, as vibration due to plying of vehicles, other than the two wheelers, “adversely affects” the building inside Ashram. The letter, citing Archeological Survey of India as a point of reference, stated that “if this is not stopped immediately, these building (sic) will just collapse in course of time”.
The noise, an outcome of plying of vehicles, creates vibration which besides harming the buildings, also disturbs tranquillity, the letter adds.
Chakrabarty has also highlighted the haphazard parking on both sides of the road, and disturbance faced by kindergarten students due to fast-moving vehicles on the road. “This disturbs the students there and also distract(s) them from their studies and also, they are likely to be hit by these irresponsible drivers when they go out of their school to go home after the school is over,” the letter stated.
The vice chancellor has requested that the university be allowed to monitor the movement of vehicles on this road that passes through the Ashram area. The VC adds that the request be approved, as it is important for the tag, received “out of hard work of many who worked tirelessly to make this happen”.