Reviving the Urban Waterways of Kolkata - Conflicts of Ecological Planning

The canal systems of the city of Kolkata are more than just ingenious systems of inland waterways developed for the twin purposes of inland navigation and storm-water drainage. Within their now stagnant waters they contain the environmental and economic history of the city ever since it was established as the seat of the British East India Company in the late 17^th century. Though the system is conventionally described as man-made, the actual proportion of artificial canals in the whole system is very less. Out of the total network of waterways, the combined length of which is more than 1803 kilometres, only 120 kilometres are constructed through human labour. The primary design idea was to link long stretches of naturally existing creeks and channels with artificial canals at specific points to create long water transport corridors.

Adam Smith had made the following observation about the role played by inland navigation in the economic prosperity of the Bengal region in his classic work 'Wealth of Nations' :

'In Bengal, the Ganges and several other great rivers form a great number of navigable canals in the same manner as the Nile does in Egypt...It is remarkable that neither the ancient Egyptians, nor the Indians, nor the Chinese, encouraged foreign commerce, but seem to have derived their great opulence from this inland navigation.' (Smith, 1776, www.geolib.com)

For many years these waterways brought rice from Barisal (now in Bangladesh), tea from Assam and wood from the jungles of Sundarbans to the markets of Kolkata. Salt, finished products and Kerosene oil were similarly transported from Kolkata to the eastern districts.

The first such canal was constructed in 1777 under the supervision of one Major William Tolly. The canal was called Tolly's Nullah or Tolly's Canal. The volume of traffic on the canal was such that over the years many such canals had to be constructed and linked up with each other to keep the west-east trade intact. These included the Beleghata canal (completed in 1810), the Circular Canal (completed in 1831), the New Cut Canal (completed in 1859) and the Keshtopur Canal (completed in 1910). The choking up of the canals due to siltation was another reason for opening up new routes. The canals of Kolkata perform a very important environmental function too. Even in their present dilapidated condition, the Bagjola and Baghbazar canal systems in North Kolkata drain 15 percent and the Tolly's Nullah drains 10 percent of the total storm water of the city. Apart from the environmental and economic functions, there was the obvious aesthetic appeal of having a network of waterways with a stretch of open space along the banks. This was especially valuable for a city like Kolkata, which over time, lost much of its limited open space to the twin challenges of increasing density and urban poverty.

From the middle of the 20^th century onwards, the condition of these vibrant waterways became increasingly poor. There were many reasons for this. The maintenance of the canals declined steadily in the years following the independence of India. East Bengal became a part of Pakistan and West Bengal remained in India. This partition affected the economic inter-dependence between the east and the west, which was the main rationale behind the creation of the canal system. The political turmoils in the city of Kolkata, lack of resources to maintain the canals, decline in traffic, the prioritisation of rural development over urban development by the ruling Left Front government, the massive migration of refugees from East Bengal during the Indian independence in 1947 and the Bangladesh war of independence in 1971 were some of the important factors that led to the transformation of these vibrant waterways to the near stagnant drains that one finds in the city these days.

Both at the time of partition and during the Bangladesh war of independence the city was flooded with millions of refugees who were forced to occupy any vacant land they could find in order to live. The railway platforms, garden houses of the elite, public open spaces, green buffers along railway tracks, roads and canals all became home to this desperate multitude. The occupation of the canal banks by dense informal settlements made any maintenance or dredging of the canals practically impossible. Thus, in the last quarter of the twentieth century the canals of Kolkata came to perform yet another crucial function – to provide housing for tens of thousands of abjectly poor residents of the city.

In the year 1996, an independent report on the traffic and environmental situation of the city of Kolkata was prepared by Prof. John Whitelegg of the School of Built Environment, Liverpool, at the request of various non-governmental organisations in the city. The purpose of the report was to generate sustainable transport solutions for the city. Sustainable transport solutions were described as those, which met the needs of the all residents regardless of income; protect and preserve and enhance the health of the residents; and are not damaging to the present and future living conditions in the city (Whitelegg: 1996, p – 3).

The report took note of the severe traffic and environmental conditions that prevailed in the city. The traffic levels had doubled between 1985 and the time of preparing the report. Particulate matter pollution, which should not exceed 90 µg/cu.m according to the regulations of the World Health Organisation (WHO), were in the range of 1300 - 3000 µg/cu.m during the winter months. Benzene levels were excep­tionally high at 30 - 100 mg/cu.m. The matter is made more grievous when one considers the fact that Benzene compounds are carcinogenic. Noise pollution is another major problem due to the high traffic volumes and a traffic behaviour that involves continually blowing the horn. Noise levels in the city often cross 90 decibels, whereas the WHO recommended limit is 55 decibels during daytime and 45 decibels during the night. The incidence of traffic accidents is high, causing injury and death mainly to the pedes­trians and cyclists.

The report went on to list the potential transport resources of the city, which could be reclaimed and im­proved in order to generate scores of sustainable transport solutions for the city. One such under-utilized resource identified were the urban canal systems of Kolkata. The report stated, that ‘in a city where the most often quoted complaints are about congestion and lack of road space, the use of river and waterways in combination has tremendous potential to improve the quality of life and transport choices for the cit­izens of Kolkata.’ (ibid, p - 6) The report came up with ideas to create river-buses and inte­grating them with the existing bus, tram, train and metro networks in the city. Such a development of the waterways could also generate a better micro-climate and possibilities for water based recreation. Soon after this report was prepared the Government of West Bengal initiated a project to dredge and reclaim an important canal system in the city.

The North Canal Reclamation Project

The strategy to revive the canal system consisted of two main parts. The first part consisted of dredging the canals and the second part consisted of initiating various post-dredging services and development projects, such as operating a ferry service on the canals, improving and widening the roads along the canals, developing recreational and commercial uses along the canal banks and around the proposed ferry terminals etc. The primary canal in the North Canal system is the Keshtopur canal which also forms the northern border of a planned suburban township called Salt Lake City. The township is inhabited largely by middle -class households, government officials and some important political leaders of the ruling Left Front Government of the state of West Bengal.

In 1998, the state transport department, through the West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBTIDC), had appointed ICICI-Winfra (IWIN) a joint venture company of the Government of West Bengal and the ICICI bank, to prepare a feasibility report for the canal reclamation project. In the month of September IWIN approached British Waterways for assistance regarding the preparation of the feasibility report (www.icici-winfra.com).

The report prepared by IWIN and British Waterways was submitted to the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr. Budhhadeb Bhattacharya, in 2000. It covered all the technical, market and financial feasibility aspects and expressed the view that the canal project was both technically feasible and financially viable (Business Line, Oct 16, 2002). The report estimated a project cost of Rs. 60 crores (1 crore = 10 million), of which Rs. 31 crores was for canal work and Rs. 29 crores was for the creation of terminals for the operation of passenger and cargo ferries. It is important to note that the feasibility study excluded the cost of evicting and resettling the informal residents from the canal banks.

The eviction of informal settlers from the canal banks and the dredging of the canals were to be undertaken by the Irrigation and Waterways department of the Government of West Bengal with the cooperation of various local governments through which the canal system passes. Following the clearing of the canal banks and the dredging, a private developer would be selected for implementing the second phase of the project on a 30 years build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The developer would be responsible for creating the necessary infrastructure and recover the costs by operating, either directly or through an intermediary company, the operation of the vessels (www.icici-winfra.com).

The project aimed at integrating the canal route into a multi-modal transport system. The proposed terminal of the ferry route would be within a distance of 100 meters from the Shovabazar station of the metro rail and the Baghbazar station of the circular rail system. It was proposed that the canal would also be used for cargo movement during the night. Fresh vegetables and other farm products would be brought into Kolkata and building materials and other finished products would be taken out of the city.

Despite all the planning, practically no implementation happened on the ground for the next two years. The political and human costs of evicting the informal residents continued to haunt the implementation process. In July 2003, the Salt Lake Municipality, decided to undertake the largest eviction drive in the history of the township. The aim of the drive was to check the mushrooming of informal settlements in and around the township. Apart from the direct connection to the canal dredging project, this drive was also demanded by the various residents' welfare associations in Salt Lake, who alleged that the growth of informal settlements was leading to a crime wave in the area. Six teams of workers and police were to undertake the drive accompanied by a magistrate and a senior police officer. A total of hundred hutments were to be demolished. (The Telegraph, Kolkata, July 29, 2003).

It was in the same year, that the welfare associations of three residential blocks of Salt Lake filed complaints to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board regarding the failure to dredge Keshtopur Canal. They were assisted by Justice Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee of the Kolkata High Court, who is also a resident of the township (Interviews with Justice Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee, 28 June, 2005 and Sudhir Dey, Editor, Laban Hrad Sambad, July 1, 2005).

Despite the massive eviction drive and the demands by Salt Lake civil society, the plans to dredge Keshtopur canal couldn't be activated until January 2004. Finally, the West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) stepped in with fresh financial contributions for the project. HIDCO was set up as a state government company in 1999 with the explicit purpose of developing the major suburban township of New Town, further to the east of Salt Lake. In the long run the dredging of the Keshtopur canal would benefit the New Town both as a water transport route and a source of fresh water for its residents.

It was decided that IWD would undertake the dredging and improvement of a 10 km long stretch, including the section that formed the northern boundary of Salt Lake and the HIDCO undertake the same tasks for the remaining 20.5 km lying to the east of Salt Lake. It was estimated that approximately 1000 informal settlers would have to be evicted for undertaking the dredging (The Telegraph, Kolkata, Jan 16, 2004).

This stop gap dredging process kept going on till early 2006. 8^th August 2006 was an extremely important date in the history of the North Canal system, as it was on this day on which a trial run of two launches was scheduled to be conducted. However, a rather unpleasant surprise awaited the passengers of the trial launches which included important officials, political leaders and media persons. Both the launches got stuck half way between the Chitpur lock gate and Salt Lake. One journalist who witnessed the incident wrote that "the VIPs made quite a picture, clutching on to their dhotis and hopping on to the ground from the wooden plank with great relief. Hundreds of spectators from the shanties, including many children, cheered and clapped." (The Telegraph, Kolkata, August 9, 2006).

The unfortunate incident created a furor as everyone started blaming the IWD for not having completed the dredging process properly. After this incident, the plan to start the launch service on North Canal remained suspended for almost one year. The IWD tried to rectify the errors made during the dredging process. Finally, from 5^th August 2007, the launch service could be resumed again albeit with much smaller vessels. (The Telegraph, Kolkata, July 25, 2007). The West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation, a state government undertaken company, was given the contract for operating the services. However, the launches continued to get stuck every now and then and the passengers became reluctant to use the service. In 2008, the service was discontinued and it has not resumed till date.

The Need for Inclusive Planning

This short chronological account of the project provides us with extremely interesting insights into the overall planning and implementation of the project and also raises many questions. The first rather glaring observation one can make is the complete absence of any mechanism for participation of either the informal settlers living on the canal banks, or the middle-class residents of the planned neighbourhoods bordering the canal. Most of the decisions were taken at high level meetings where there was a strong representation of project authorities, line departments and the local government, but which precluded any kind of active citizen participation or control. There were no public meetings, hearings or grievance redressals of any kind. Even when it concerned serious human rights issues such as the eviction of hundreds of poor families from the only land they could possibly occupy close to their source of livelihood, these were overwhelmed by quick decisions and equally stern official action. The absence of mechanisms for participation and the extent and nature of the eviction drives hint at the complete exclusion of the poor residents of informal settlements from the planning and implementation of such large processes and their utter powerlessness in the face of such events.

Yet, throughout the history of the project, and even before it was conceived, it was acknowledged by the concerned government departments that the major obstruction in the path of improving and reclaiming the canals was the issue of the informal canal bank residents. For many years, these abjectly poor, excluded and powerless people successfully frustrated all the efforts of the various departments of the state government to evict them and dredge the canals. Some powerlessness that must have been!

Let us consider another observation. The largest eviction drive along the Keshtopur canal in Salt Lake was undertaken in July 2003. Yet, during my field visits in 2004 I saw large concentrations of informal settlers still living along the canal. I was even more surprised, when I returned to Kolkata for another field visit in 2005 and still found more or less the same clusters standing. I am writing 'more or less' because it was clear that sporadic eviction drives had happened between 2004 and 2005. But the major clusters remained.

The above analysis of the canal reclamation project clearly shows that there are no short-cuts to sustainable planning based on purely technological approaches. Any approach to reclaim and revive the canals of Kolkata for sustainable transport solutions has to be inclusive of the informal residents whose lives and livelihoods are totally inter-woven with this urban resource. Primarily, this calls for openness to ideas, experiments and approaches which are beyond the conventional. The whole reclamation project could have been preceded by waves of consultation exercises involving various state and non-state actors, the various organizations of the local residents and creation of needs statements and proposals based on these consultations.

Considering the fact that after a decade of initiating the project, the informal settlements remain on the canal banks whereas the ferry service itself gets withdrawn, the lessons from such exclusive and non-participatory exercises at ecological planning should be all too clear. Thus, it is primarily by paying attention to the socio-economic issues and challenges in our cities that we can hope to ultimately address the issue of urban contribution to global warming and climate change.

References

• Business Line (2001), BW road map for Kolkata canal project, June 14, The Hindu Group of Publications.
• Smith, A. (1776), Wealth of Nations, http://geolib.com/smith.adam/won1-03.html
• The Telegraph (2003), August strike on Salt Lake shantytown, July 29.
• The Telegraph (2004), Canal de-silt boon for Salt Lake drainage, Jan. 16.
• The Telegraph (2006), Dream sail out of depth - launches run aground in trial cruise of Budhha’s showpiece Venice project, Aug. 9.
• The Telegraph (2007), Green light for Ferry, July 25
• West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, Invitation of Expression of Interest from Developer cum Operator for the North Canal System of Kolkata, www.icici-winfra.com
• Whitelegg, J (1996), Sustainable transport solutions for Calcutta, School of the Built Environment, Liverpool