Mayor Firhad Hakim on Wednesday listened to many complaints over the phone from Calcuttans, one of whom alleged that he was unable to develop a plot because some goons were threatening him dropping a state minister’s name.
The caller, who said he lived in Kasba, told the mayor the goons who had been threatening him were claiming that they enjoyed the backing of disaster management and fire and emergency services minister Javed Khan.
Hakim told the caller not to worry about the threats. “If they threaten you mentioning Javed Khan’s name, you mention Firhad Hakim’s name to them. The administration doesn’t work in this manner. You go ahead with your plan legally. There won’t be any problem,” the mayor said.
Khan told Metro the caller should lodge a complaint with Kasba police station. “I don’t know who has done this. I want to know who are these people who are threatening common people in my name. I would request the person who was threatened to lodge a complaint with Kasba police station,” he said.
The mayor received about 30 calls from citizens who complained about bad roads, malfunctioning street lights and other issues.
Hakim had on Monday announced that residents of the city could reach him at a toll-free number — 1800 345 1213 — between 4pm and 5pm every Wednesday and tell him the problems they face related to civic amenities.
On Monday, the mayor attended 25 calls in his office at the Calcutta Municipal Corporation headquarters in the presence of mayoral council member Debashis Kumar and municipal commissioner Khalil Ahmed, among others.
One of the 30 callers on Wednesday told the mayor that the stretch of Netaji Subhas Bose Road near his home in Tollygunge was riddled with potholes. Hakim asked the chief engineer of the civil department to look into the problem.
A caller from Satyen Roy Road in Behala said the street lights in front of his home were not working. Hakim promised to get the snag fixed within a day. Later in the evening, an official of the corporation said engineers had already started work to fix it.
Hakim told a number of callers to write to him with details of their problems.
Parag Sarkar, a resident of Chander Village Road in Haridevpur, told the mayor he suspected that a neighbour had built a septic tank illegally.
“The septic tank has made our life miserable. My 71-year-old mother cannot breathe,” Sarkar later told Metro.
Two of his neighbours, too, were suffering from the problem, he said.
“I had approached the National Green Tribunal with the problem. The tribunal asked the civic body to file a report. I suspect the report will be manipulated. I requested the mayor to ensure that a correct report is sent. He promised to send an inspection team,” said Sarkar.
The heads of all civic departments were present during the one-hour interaction. Most of the calls were put on speaker so that all present in the room could hear the complaints.
Civic officials said on Tuesday the toll-free number was ringing throughout the day. The officials were initially at a loss how to respond. While some suggested that they tell the callers about the time when the mayor would be available on phone, others felt none other than the mayor should answer the calls.
It was finally decided that the number would be kept active only from 4pm to 5pm every Wednesday.
When the clock struck 5, Hakim removed the wire from the phone so that no more calls could come.
Councillors said the mayor’s decision to take calls directly from citizens would help him know people’s grievances first-hand.
The corporation is also calling 100 people every day as part of its public outreach programme.