Save New Town Now !: It's raining apartments @ Shukhobrishti

Shukhobrishti - a very ambitious project undertaken by the Shapoorji-Pallonji guys. Ultimately this entire mini-township on it's own is supposed to be providing 20,000 apartments or flats. Can you believe 20k apartments ? And if morning shows the day - it seems to be a bright sunny day.

Undertook a trip to take a tour of the LIG Phase 1, which is completed and ready for possession. The possession/handover is to take place on the 2nd of August. They have really done a stupendous job, the complex is very well designed, spic and span, nicely landscaped, well laid out and amazingly well done for an LIG module. Most builders tend to cut corners even in HIG modules, leave alone the LIG ones.

This project stands across the street from other big daddy's like - Keppel Magus's Elita Vista Gardens and DLF Heights. All the 3 projects in this area have been effected by infrastructural pitfall that has plagued Rajarhat since Inception. None of these projects have electricity, or access to drinking water, even sewerage work is not complete. The only exception being @ Shukhobrishti LIG Phase 1, where they have provided for electricity via underground cabling. This is quite amazing and heartening to hear that an alternative has been worked out. However the other 2 projects and the MIG phase of "Shukhobrishti" are still threatened by the absence of basic elements of urban life. During an earlier visit to Elita Garden Vista, their executives had no more information than you or I, they are just hoping the impending elections in 2011 and the change in government will bring along a ray of hope. Let us - Wait. Watch. Pray.

As this is a very sensitive issue - that of farmers vs. builders, CPM vs TMC, etc. No one really wants to talk about this or touch the topic, it has become the proverbial "hot potato". I was able to do some string journalism of my own - in talking to a different cross section of people at the project site here @Shukhobrishti.

During my visit, I managed to speak to a young engineer, a security guard, a LIG customer visiting the site. Following are some voice samplings of the conversations we had, just to give you a taste of the goings on and the "State of the Union".

Conversation with an engineer @ Shukhobrishti site