Kolkata is a throbbing lively city. As with everything alive, constant growth is a typical characteristic of Kolkata. The city never fails to grow despite the various challenges it faces.
There was a time when Kolkata was confined to a rather small perimeter. It was a fraction of what we know as Kolkata today.
However, Kolkata had to endure several difficulties in its recent history, starting with our independence and the partition of Bengal. The major challenge faced by Kolkata has been the pressure of high population.
Being the premier city in Eastern India, Kolkata has always attracted a lot of people as residents. Apart from the people of West Bengal districts, Kolkata is also a major destination for the people of all Eastern Indian states for education, work, and settling down.
Over the years the city expanded to accommodate all of them. Better infrastructure was built to make life easier for the residents. Kolkata boasts of top-class infrastructure comparable to all metro cities of India.
Growth is a Way of Life in Kolkata
It has been more than 200 years since Kolkata came into being. The city never stopped growing since then.
The South and East peripheries shifted further away from the city proper over time. With the setting up of Salt Lake and New Town, Kolkata expanded on the Eastern side quite aggressively. Infrastructural development also helped develop the Northern part of the city. Even areas near the Ganges on both sides of the river started growing.
The nature of the development in Kolkata is rather holistic with residential communities, hospitals, shopping and entertainment centres, and educational institutions coming up in every area.
Growth Model has Changed
Earlier, Kolkata had a vibrant central area, and there were residential areas beyond that. The area consisting of Esplanade, New Market, and Park Street areas could be called the central parts of the city.
So, if you wanted to indulge in high street shopping, or eat out in style you usually went to the New Market or Park Street.
But this hub and spoke model gave way to development clusters later on as more areas joined the greater Kolkata area.
So, areas like Behala, Garia, Salt Lake, or New Town slowly started having high-end shopping malls, movie halls, and restaurants.
For example, reputed CBSE and ICSE schools came up in all areas of the city whether it’s New Town or Behala.
What is the Reason for Change?
There are several reasons for this dynamism.
Let’s look at them in some detail.
Residential clusters came up in various localities away from the centre of the city and the population growth in these clusters created enough demand for various services.
It is far more convenient for a resident of Garia to go to a movie hall near his home than spend hours in traffic and park his car. The need for shorter travel created the need for better infrastructure near these areas.
After all, isn’t it more convenient to shop at City Centre or Mani Square if you stay at Salt Lake?
There is also the other side of the story.
Speedy transport allowed homebuyers to venture away from the city’s centre. They know they can reach their workplaces quite fast. They can even go to the airport, and the railway stations at Sealdah and Howrah pretty quickly.
How did the speed of commuting improve in Kolkata?
Better roads like the EM Bypass and the Metro network.
Change Massively Impacted the Citizens
As more and more residential clusters started getting developed, better schools, superior healthcare facilities, and faster connectivity drew homebuyers.
Real estate developers also contributed to this change. More and more sprawling gated communities started to come up in these areas for better land availability and high demand for such homes.
For example, the presence of premium schools, shopping malls, and hospitals nearby was the key driver for home demand in New Town.
KMC Area Expansion near EM Bypass
EM Bypass has been a huge driver of real estate growth in Kolkata. Areas like Garia, Southern Bypass, Patuli, and Madurdaha have shown tremendous opportunities for homebuyers.
Kolkata is set to expand after over a decade, adding 60,000 people in three locations to the east and south.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to extend its jurisdiction to the moujas Jagadipota and Mukundapur under the Kheyadaha II panchayat off the EM Bypass.
Numerous standalone buildings and complexes have come up in these areas in the last few areas and the residents will receive improved urban services after this step.
An official said the corporation planned to improve all basic services, including redress of waterlogging and bad roads and providing potable water and modern street lights.
“We need to spend a huge amount of our budgetary funds for an improvement in essential services for the newly included areas. We will assess the properties and levy a property tax to mop up revenue from these neighbourhoods,” said an official. The advantage is that these areas are quite close to the EM Bypass. The residents will also experience better returns on their property investments.
