Kolkata, over the last 5 years, has seen a tremendous boost in the sale of cars in all forms and at various price points. Both purchasing power and interest in different kinds of automobiles are riding on a steep upward graph for the city-motorists. However, one of the major factors for all automobile buyers and enthusiasts is the accessibility of the service centres for their cars.

Once bought, the service centres are the most important consideration in a car owner's life. Luckily for them, the service centres of most of the brands are not as scattered as some. The automobile service centres in the city have grown in close vicinity, in clusters, making it very easy for the car owners to identify the locations and access them.

One such cluster has gradually developed itself at Arupota in East Kolkata. The road adjacent to 1002, E M Bypass, opposite Science City, leads to the site. As we drive through this road, we notice that the tarmacked road gradually fades into an unmetalled one. Starting with Mahindra Service Centre by Mohan Motors, almost a decade back, the hub, as we may call it, houses as many as eleven service centres apart from the local players.

Having developed over the last decade, when the land was comparatively easily available here, (being a discarded dumping ground), each one of these workshops is huge in size. The area is accessible by Basanti Highway as well, wherein the Mercedes service centre by Benchmark Interkraft comes first.

Most of the big automobile sellers of the city have set up their workshops here including Mohan Motors, One Auto, Bengal Motorrad and OSL Prestige.

The location is divided by endless lanes and bylanes and each of them boasts one of these workshops. The variation in the ways the workshops have been designed is also very fascinating. While most of them have single-storeyed setups, OSL Prestige has come up with a multi-level workshop for their BMW customers. On the other hand, Benchmark Interkraft has a gallery-view kind of setting where one can see the cars getting washed inside curtained rooms even from the road outside.

The Arupota service hub has come up on the outskirts of the boundary of Dhapa – the biggest wasteland of the city. They have not only contributed to raising the living standards of the locals but also to the development of the locality.

The best part of the of this zone is its proximity to the city-life. These big workshops with all the required infrastructure for the servicing of new generation cars have been developed right inside the city and are easily accessible from both the northern and southern parts of Kolkata. This is a factor of high convenience for the car owners of the city and has led to its development.

An area which was once feared, that one would not wish to venture into even in broad daylight, has transformed into the employment hub of many hundreds of young men. These young men belong to that stratum of the society whose members may have the acumen for higher education but are unable to pursue the same. They need a little push from the mainstream society to continue their lives on the 'right side' and these workshops gave them a huge one. Today they consider themselves to be qualified technicians – which they rightfully are, even though without a formal degree. Many have also, with time, developed a thirst for knowledge and passionately discuss mechanical and other complex engineering problems related to cars.  They are today’s youth who have been able to upgrade the living standards of their families and have realised their potential to drive towards a comfortable lifestyle for their coming generations, escaping years of grinding poverty.

A few of these service engineers have been able to develop a niche for themselves in the time that they have spent in these workshops over the past few years. This has also led to specialisation of labour as all the sevice centres are confined to this area. The developing knowledge and interest of the locals in the auto industry has led to a continuous source of specialised workers the growing count of workshops can rely on.

The location of the service hub at Arupota has also got the natural advantage of not being within the purview of pollution control within city limits. The workshops being located away from residential areas, despite servicing more than a thousand cars on a busy day, keep a strong check on proper disposal of wastes, ensuring there is no pollution cry against the hub.

All of these factors have contributed to a zone that can service Indian brands like Maruti-Suzuki, Mahindra including the premium Nexa and international brands like Nissan, Hyundai, Mercedes, BMW and AUDI. Apart from just the supercars, almost every brand selling their automobiles has set up their service centres in just a radius of a kilometre. This seems like a knowledge hub for automobiles has been developed right at the centre of the city.

 

However, there is still a lot left to be achieved in the name of development of the locality. The roads inside Arupota are not tarmacked as yet. They are still half-laterite lanes, dotted with huge potholes, which the service engineers joke are the best testing grounds for the cars and to identify potential sources of  troubles from every hidden corner of a piece of automobile. If we go by the accounts of the locals, they say that the speed in the development has only picked up in the recent past. However, they are also apprehensive of the future in a couple of the workshops facing temporary lockdowns due to financial instability.

Still, the pride with which the engineers talk about their understanding of cars and the way in which they display concern for the customers shows a commitment to the continued development of the area. Even they are hopeful that the closed workshops will soon reopen under stronger leadership and that they will continue to serve their customers with increased zeal and upgraded equipment.