Malda (West Bengal): There are two municipalities in Malda district. English Bazaar and Old Malda. According to the 2011 census, the population of English Bazaar municipality is an area of 13.25 sq km with 2 lakh 16 thousand 83 people. At the same time, the population of the 9.4 sq km old Malda municipality is 80,012. National Highway 34 passes between the two cities. North-South road communication lifeline. Thousands of vehicles pass through this road daily. The huge number of heavy lorries are illegally parked along this road. On the other hand, it increases traffic congestion in the two cities. Also, there is a risk of accidents. With this in mind, former Left government decided to build a truck terminus outside the two cities. Later, the TMC government also upheld that decision. Everything was done. Only the terminus has not been built yet.
According to administration sources, the decision to build the terminus was taken during the Left government. In the nineties, about six acres of land along the old Malda Narayanpur National Highway 34 was earmarked for it. In 2004, a plaque was erected by the administration at the site. The land belongs to a small industrial corporation. Due to the complexity of land transfer, work on the terminus could not be started at that time. The whole process came to a halt. Few years later, there was a change of power in the state. During the Trinamool-led government, an initiative was taken to build a truck terminus there again. This time the responsibility was given to the district council. In 2017, the district council leased the land from the industrial corporation on a long-term contract. According to the agreement, the district council will have to pay more than 60 thousand rupees per month for the land. In February 2019, North Bengal Development Minister Rabindranath Ghosh laid the foundation stone of a truck terminus on the land. But that's it.
The land boundary surrounded by a wall, two culverts and an approach road have been constructed along the national highway for entry and exit. But now the land is abandoned. The industrial area has been turned into a dumpster. According to the board, the North Bengal Development Department has allocated 14 crore 29 lakh 86 thousand 102 rupees for this project. But where there used to be a shiny truck terminus, there are weeds now. Cattle and goats are grazing.
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The truck owners are making it clear that they would have benefited a lot if this terminus had been built. Soumya Prasad Bose, the Editor of the Malda Multi-Action Truck Owners Association, said, "We have to struggle to park trucks cars every day. We will have a lot of benefits if this terminus is built. The land was taken to build this terminus in the late 1990s. Total of 14 crore was allocated. I thought this time they would solve our long-standing problem. We tried many times to get the government's attention. But the government did not pay any attention. We went to talk to the administration also. At this moment the number of lorries registered in Malda is about 42 thousand. At least three thousand lorries from outside come here every day."
Gaur Chandra Mandal, president of the district council, has admitted that they have to pay more than Rs 60,000 per month for the land alone as the terminus has not been built. He said, "Work on the Central Truck Terminus at Old Maldar Narayanpur under the supervision of the District Council has started. The land has been acquired. The North Bengal Development Department has also allocated money for it. Work has started. But in the meantime, some problems have arisen. We have passed a resolution on the 19th of October. It was decided at the meeting that we will make that terminus. With the approval of the state, the terminus will be built in the PPP model. Every effort is being made to launch it. "
