Metro finally! No Mamta! Thank God!

I’ve been driving past this mega outlet everyday for the past 6 months or so, both morning and evening, on my way from work and back. So I have actually seen it come up from bare land to the massive structure covering over 100,000 sq. ft. of shopping space. Metro Cash and carry, the German wholesale giant has had its share of troubles kick starting their operations in Kolkata. Opposition from unions and political parties alike have been a stumbling bloc for industry in any sphere taking off in Bengal, especially after the much hyped exodus of the TATA Nano plant from Singur.

So I guess today is a small victory of sorts for the state with the opening of Metro Cash & Carry and I couldn’t resist clicking a picture on my way to work this morning after having observed the preparations being made over the past week for this historic day. There wasn’t a trace of any kind of opposition to the opening. I guess with Dada (Saurav Ganguly) inaugurating the place, it made the people of Kolkata proud.Way to go Kolkata. Way to go Bengal.

The other thing I did was visit the transmitter site at the Doordarshan Complex spread over a vast expanse of land in Golf Green. Perched on this structure which is the TV Tower are transmitters of various Private FM channels and AIR (All India Radio).

Update: In the late evening at about 7.45 pm, I got caught in a traffic jam about a kilometre short of Metro. The first day seemed to have kicked off with a bang. By the time I reached Metro, there was a line of bikes and cars with a sea of people inside and outside the Metro premises. I saw people with cartons loaded up on their bikes and it seems traders in Kolkata have lapped up this new wholesale marketplace.