States » EastPosted at: Sep 21 2026 11:13PM


Bengal government plans three new satellite townships in Kolkata, Asansol

Asansol, Sep 21 (UNI) The West Bengal government has initiated a land-scouting process to build at least three new satellite townships — two in Kolkata and one in Asansol — to tackle rapid population growth and rising traffic congestion over the next 30 years.
Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) Minister Agnimitra Paul stated that the initiative aims to establish modern, high-tech urban spaces with robust infrastructure capable of sustaining the region's growth until 2056. The department lists Paul as the Minister-in-Charge.
“Late Chief Minister Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy had envisioned planned cities like Kalyani, Salt Lake, Durgapur, Ashoknagar Kalyangarh, and Habra,” Minister Paul told UNI.
“With Kolkata and Asansol facing immense pressure due to continuous population growth, we are now preparing a comprehensive 30-year City Development Plan.”
As part of this expansion strategy, the state government is looking into reclaiming idle land from closed factories to accommodate the new townships, health infrastructure, and industrial projects. Several sites have already been identified in the Asansol region, including the closed Blue Factory of RCI in Asansol North, Hindustan Cables Limited (HCL) in Rupnarayanpur, and the British Oxygen Limited (BOL) factory and township land in Asansol.
While some of these vast tracts of industrial land are currently locked in legal disputes, the minister expressed optimism about resolving the bottlenecks through inter-governmental cooperation.
“The state government is working to acquire these idle lands. Although there are certain litigations, we are hopeful that the Centre and the state government will collaborate to clear the legal hurdles. Reclaiming this land bank will allow us to develop elevated corridors, alternative connectivity routes, hospitals, hotels, townships, and new industries,” Paul added.
A comprehensive Draft 2056 Plan is underway to completely overhaul the civic infrastructure across the Asansol South and Asansol North Assembly constituencies, according to BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul.
Falling under the Asansol Municipal Corporation (AMC), the mega master plan will focus on establishing modern sewerage systems, uninterrupted drinking water supply, enhanced road connectivity and major greenery projects. It also outlines the expansion of current urban limits through new satellite townships.
As part of a major socio-economic boost, engineering consultancy firm RITES is in the final stages of conducting a techno-economic feasibility study for a new bridge over the Damodar River. The bridge will provide world-class inter-district connectivity by directly linking Bankura and West Burdwan districts. Paul stated that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be fast-tracked as soon as the study is submitted.
Additionally, a new Kalipahari-Damodar link road is being planned to decongest the historic Grand Trunk (GT) Road — originally built by Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century as Asia's oldest and longest highway.
In a bid to transform Asansol and Durgapur into Smart Cities, the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) department is actively planning to introduce aerial metro routes, following a prior state Budget announcement. This proposed Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) will operate as a semi-high-speed rail network managed by the state transport department.
To fund the high-profile project, the government is looking to secure institutional loans from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and HUDCO. RITES has also been commissioned to prepare the techno-economic feasibility report for this Asansol-Durgapur aerial corridor.
Incidentally, in a major push to revolutionise regional connectivity, Rajya Sabha MP and West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Samik Bhattacharya formally requested the Central Government a few days ago to introduce a Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) network across South Bengal. Bhattacharya is the BJP's West Bengal president and a Rajya Sabha member.
In a letter addressed to union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, Bhattacharya urged the ministry to examine the feasibility of developing high-speed, metro-like rail corridors on the lines of the National Capital Region's Namo Bharat network. Along with his proposal, the parliamentarian submitted a comprehensive preliminary study and detailed feasibility report to address the mounting transit congestion and capacity constraints faced by the state's conventional suburban infrastructure.
The extensive, multi-corridor plan outlines four primary RRTS routes designed to directly link major growth hubs and suburban townships with Kolkata: Kolkata-Kalyani-Krishnanagar-Mayapur corridor, spanning 135 km; Kolkata-Burdwan-Durgapur-Asansol corridor, the longest proposed route at 232 km, connecting key industrial belts; Kolkata-Falta-Diamond Harbour-Haldia-Nandigram corridor, covering 102 km to enhance port and coastal town connectivity; and Kolkata-Santragachi-Kolaghat-Kharagpur-Medinipur corridor, a 135-km alignment aimed at boosting the south-western link.
Political analysts and urban planners observe that this massive transit initiative echoes the vision of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, the second Chief Minister of West Bengal. Between 1948 and 1962, Dr Roy pioneered the planning and founding of several modern satellite townships and industrial cities across the state. His landmark initiatives were primarily designed to manage post-Partition refugee rehabilitation and relieve the severe population congestion paralysing Kolkata.
Observers note that the newly proposed RRTS lines could serve as the modern economic lifelines needed to fully integrate and rejuvenate those historic satellite centres.
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Tags: #Bengal government plans three new satellite townships in Kolkata# Asansol
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