Latest news with #KolkataMunicipalCorporation
Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Civic body sets up its first women & childcare facility
1 2 Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has set up a 450 sqft women and childcare facility on Freeschool Street. Funded by the state govt, the Rs 22 lakh facility will cater exclusively to women requiring urgent nursing spaces. This is the first such facility to be built by the civic body. "We have built the structure to serve a dual purpose. Working women can use it as a washroom, and we have also kept a portion of the facility reserved for women who need to feed their infants," said a representative from the KMC bustee services department, which oversaw the construction. The KMC plans to establish at least 20 more such facilities in the near future, and ultimately, one in each of its 144 wards. A civic official acknowledged that land availability posed a significant challenge but added that the civic body will try to find plots to set up the centres. A civic official said these facilities will be accessible to the public without any charge.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Fresh 7 COVID cases in Kolkata, number of active cases in Bengal now 30
Seven new COVID-19 cases have been reported from four hospitals in Kolkata, taking the active case count in the state to 30. According to sources, two patients are currently being treated at a private hospital in Alipore. One of them, an 89-year-old man from Alipore, required oxygen support due to respiratory distress. Although his condition is now improving, he remains in isolation in the ICU. Meanwhile, a 41-year-old woman from Thakurpukur is also admitted to the same hospital. Hospital sources said she had complained of a headache, fever, and respiratory issues. Although she does not require oxygen support, she has been kept in isolation as a precaution. One COVID-positive patient has been admitted to a private hospital off EM Bypass. Additionally, two swabs tested positive at a private hospital in Salt Lake. Hospital sources confirmed that hospitalization was necessary for these two individuals. Two more patients with COVID-19 have also been admitted to the same Salt Lake hospital. At the Kolkata Port Trust Hospital, two patients currently admitted have also tested positive for COVID-19. Although the state health department has yet to issue any official directives, sources said that officials are watching out more vigilantly for possible symptoms. Two isolation wards have been kept ready at the Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital in case the number of cases increases. Health department officials, however, said that there is no cause for concern at the moment. Meanwhile, with fresh COVID-19 cases being reported in Bengal, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to install banners across all its health units in the city. These banners will promote awareness about basic precautions such as handwashing, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance. Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh, who also holds the MMIC (Health) portfolio, held a meeting earlier this week with health officers from all boroughs. Speaking to the media, Ghosh said, 'Though there has hardly been any instance of the virus affecting the lower respiratory tract, elderly people with comorbidities need to be cautious. The virus can spread fast, but the chances of it being fatal, as of now, are low.' Health workers across all wards have been directed to collect information regarding COVID-19 symptoms, in addition to their usual data collection related to malaria and dengue. They have been instructed to isolate any individual showing influenza-like symptoms or signs of severe acute respiratory infection.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Task force proposes ban on rooftop sale for biz gains
1 2 Kolkata: The state task force, which was constituted after the recent Burrabazar fire, on Wednesday recommended that the Bengal govt and civic bodies across the state, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), shouldn't allow the sale of rooftop space for commercial gains. This was discussed at the task force's first meeting held at the KMC headquarters. Mayor and state urban development minister, Firhad Hakim, who attended the meeting, said another meeting on the fire safety issues would be held before a final report in this regard would be submitted to the state Cabinet within a month. The meeting was also attended by state power minister Aroop Biswas, disaster management minister Javed Khan, and panchayat minister Pradeep Majumdar. Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Verma, municipal commissioner Dhaval Jain, and director general of fire services Ranvir Kumar took note of what the task force members discussed at the meeting. "Rooftop should be treated as a fire refuge, and hence we will need to arrive at a decision not to allow the sale of rooftop space anywhere in the state for commercial gains," Hakim added. The task force members also agreed on conducting a third-party fire audit at the commercial and office buildings, including at the vulnerable ones in the city. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Beyond Text Generation: An AI Tool That Helps You Write Better Grammarly Install Now Undo The disaster management department will be asked to train its manpower to ensure the rescue of trapped persons in case of fire, said a member of the task force. Earlier, the KMC-constituted committee for the hearings on the fate of three rooftop restaurants in the city had said there was no room for leniency on fire safety norms. The KMC building rules specify that every terrace on the topmost storey of any building shall have a common access and not be subdivided, an official said. According to KMC building rules, under no circumstances a promoter is allowed to sell a terrace or give a nod to anyone to set up any infrastructure there without the approval of the civic body.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
KMC forms health teams in wards for door-to-door survey, focus on seniors
1 2 3 Kolkata: Taking note of the gradual rise in Covid cases, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has formed a team of health workers in wards who will go from door to door in neighbourhoods to identify elderly citizens with comorbidities suffering from Covid-like symptoms. KMC health officials have also been asked to collect data from the state and private hospitals about any patient testing positive for Covid. At the same time, the civic brass has activated the Covid infrastructure at the health clinics as part of preparation to combat any outbreak in future. Deputy mayor and KMC health department MMiC Atin Ghosh on Tuesday held an urgent meeting with the senior health officials from all 16 boroughs and asked them to get ready for any emergency. "We interacted with the borough executive health officers and asked them to train the medical officers who joined post-Covid period so that any patients turning up at our health clinics are examined well and, if need be, send patients with Covid-like symptoms to the School of Tropical Medicine to undergo tests," said Ghosh. Meanwhile, the KMC health department decided to launch a campaign to educate citizens about emerging dangers. "We will ask citizens to use sanitiser, masks, and keep social distancing from a patient who might test positive for Covid," said Ghosh. However, Ghosh made it clear that there is no Covid threat now and the KMC health department didn't want to spread panic. "All we need to do is ask the citizens to remain alert," the deputy mayor said.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
In Kolkata, heritage enthusiasts pay tribute to Satyajit Ray through street art
On the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of acclaimed filmmaker Satyajit Ray, a 120-foot stretch of wall outside his residence on Bishop Lefroy Road in Kolkata has been turned into a crowdfunded street art museum dedicated to his life and work. The wall, adjacent to the home where Ray's son, filmmaker Sandip Ray, now lives, showcases high-resolution prints of sketches, photographs, paintings, film posters, and magazine covers - both by and of Ray. The facade is illuminated in the evenings, allowing passersby to view the open-air exhibition after dark. 'I grew up behind his house on Lake Temple Road and Lake Avenue. I believe Calcutta is a repository of nostalgia, but somewhere the city stopped telling stories. Through this street art museum, we have tried to tell a visual story of Mr. Ray as a professional,' Mudar Patherya, a Kolkata-based urban revivalist who conceptualised and executed the project, said. He noted that the inspiration came from a similar visual transformation undertaken in his own office space. 'Mr. Ray was not just a filmmaker. He was a multidimensional man - he was an artist, a writer, and he composed the music for his own films. He was many things at once. The street exhibition is thus an attempt to enhance the common people's understanding of Mr. Ray,' Mr. Patherya added. The exhibition, completed by April 30, was installed over ten days and includes murals painted on electricity boxes and backlit posters mounted on lamp posts. The project was supported by approximately 27 patrons, most of them based in Kolkata. 'A lot of the credit behind this goes to Sandip Ray, who vetted the images that have been put up, and Ashim Basu, the councillor who facilitated this project. It was a collaborative effort to transform and reinvent the neighbourhood. Now with the help of Mr. Basu, we are also painting alpona on the lamp posts in the area,' Mr. Patherya said. He also expressed the hope that this model of urban rejuvenation could be adopted in other parts of the country, particularly in neighbourhoods associated with distinguished individuals. Ashim Basu, a member of the mayor-in-council of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and councillor of Ward 70, where the project is located, said that the effort is part of a broader heritage initiative. 'All buildings in the area can be considered heritage property, and there has been a concerted effort to highlight that,' Mr. Basu said. 'Once, around four years back, we had tried something similar where we printed Mr. Ray's sketches on flexes and put them up on kiosks. So when I got the proposal for this urban revival project, I was ready. We overcame many hurdles, but our effort was successful. Many people are coming to Bishop Lefroy Road to see this exhibition, and we have plans of expanding it,' he told The Hindu. Both Mr. Patherya and Mr. Basu confirmed that further initiatives are under way. These include a continuous screening of film clips from Ray's oeuvre on an electronic display outside his residence and the establishment of a bookshop in the area featuring the works of Satyajit Ray and his father, Sukumar Ray.
