Development Efforts towards Ecological Sustainability in Calcutta: Transformation of a Metropolis

Abstract

Metropolitan cities all over the world are engines of economic growth. In the course of their transformation from small trading centres serving the rural hinterland or places having specialised functions, to primate cities with diversified economic bases, they affect and modify the ecosystem of the region. The experience of metropolitan cities in India indicates lack of understanding at all concerned levels about the inevitable link between the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems and the pattern of metropolitan development. The urban development model as adopted in Calcutta is a collection of disjointed sectoral projects with different gestation periods, devoid of any understanding regarding their ecological consequences. The city image is associated with severe overcrowding, illegal settlements, loss of bio-diversity, filling up of tanks and wetlands, poor drainage and water pollution. The site of old Calcutta was surrounded by marshes, tidal creeks, mangrove swamps and wetlands. The landscape of the seventeenth century has changed radically with the growing might of colonial power and due to unregulated urbanisation. However, the legacy of vandalism of nature need not continue to plague the city or guide its future growth and development. In order to sustain Calcutta, the ecological constraints within which it has developed need to be understood and respected. This chapter attempts to provide a brief description of the changes in the basic life support system of the metropolis, the east Calcutta wetlands, as a result of market-driven urbanisation. An assessment is made regarding the ecological impact of the planning and development efforts pursued in the last couple of decades. The chapter recommends a reorientation of the planning strategy based on understanding of regional ecosystems and integration of social and natural science for sustainable metropolitan living.