Recently, an old, dilapidated minibus carrying 40 passengers toppled in West Bengal’s capital city Kolkata. 10 passengers sustained injuries which was a miracle considering the video of the accident was horrifying. However, in a state, where the politicians and bureaucrats still pride themselves in popularizing hand-drawn rickshaws while the public transport network bursts at the seams, such an accident was waiting to happen.
https://twitter.com/ashokepandit/status/1489817980502691844
Kolkata has a high population density. The road space in Kolkata is only 6 per cent compared to other metropolitan cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, which have greater road space. High demand for mobility coupled with low road space and a poor public transport system leads to high congestion on the roads of Kolkata. And in the worst-case scenario, the buses turn turtle-like as they did in the Doria crossing last Sunday.
However, the left media in close cooperation with Bollywood and the ruling dispensation has kept West Bengal in the past. The old yellow taxi system, slow metro, and falling buildings are presented as the soul of Bengal.
The left-liberal journalists routinely publish photographs of the dilapidated structures of Bengal and dub it ‘beautiful’ while sitting comfortably in their plush condos and apartments in foreign lands. The thirst for poverty porn and an incessant urge to nourish this fetish has kept Bengal stagnant, all these years.
Poverty porn.
— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) February 14, 2020
Partly the reason for Bengal’s failure to reinvent the wheel finds its root in the history of communist rule, which abhorred any kind of industrialization and investment by the private sector. Such hysteria against the private enterprises has only been amplified by the 10-year rule of the Mamata government.
The effect of the state-sponsored anarchy and violence is such that companies fear setting up camp in the Eastern state of the country. And the small establishments that do have business in Bengal, are on the verge of collapse.
At the time of independence, Bengal’s share in India’s industrial production stood at 30%. Today, it has come down to a mere 3.5%. Such weak industrial numbers had even forced a Socialist Mamata to drop her charade and beg the central government to allow vaccine manufacturers to set up base in the state.
Read More: Kerala is treading on the same path of economic disaster as Bengal and Kitex’s exit confirms it
The dire straits of Bengal can be gauged by the fact that it continues to be outwitted by a small state like Odisha in the GST collection revenue every month.
In December 2021, West Bengal collected Rs 3,707 crores which was a 10 per cent decline from the Rs 4,114 crores collected in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, Odisha collected Rs 4,080 crores in December 2021, up 43 per cent YoY from the collection of Rs 2,860 crore, last year.
Read more: Odisha is now a bigger GST contributor than West Bengal despite having 3 times less population
And when there is no money coming from anywhere, the state and its infrastructure suffer. However, instead of acting as a pressure group, the liberal lobby presents Bengal as the old lady, still having the charm of the yore. Meanwhile, Bollywood only reinforces this belief with its cinematography, not going beyond the gaudy streets and crumbling buildings.
Bengal is sending out an SOS but the politics of the state have kept it chained to the Old Testament. The testament abhors any kind of development. And if Mamata Banerjee continues to enjoy untamed power in the state, the former capital of the country may soon turn dystopic for good.