Activists say the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Kolkata Environment Improvement Investment Program consider the Churiyal Canal, spread across six wards of the city, as “just a drain” and have designed a project to carry sewage using pipelines along the canal.
Activists say the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Kolkata Environment Improvement Investment Program consider the Churiyal Canal, spread across six wards of the city, as “just a drain”.
Construction work is going on on the banks of the Churiyal Canal Extension in South Kolkata. photo credit: Debashish Bhaduri
Kolkata
A few meters from Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital in Kolkata’s southern bank, about a dozen earth movers are working on the construction of a pumping station that will carry wastewater from one end of the Churiyal Canal to the other. For the past few years, the laying of sewage pipes and the construction of a pumping station over a distance of 2.7 km at the bottom of the canal has caused concern among environmental activists and a section of locals.
The Churiyal is a 16 km natural canal that originates from Behala in the south of the city and terminates in the Hooghly River at Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas district.
A few weeks ago, a group of experts and environmental activists released a research report titled ‘Killing of the Chureal Canal: Social and Environmental Impacts of the ADB-funded KEIIP Project’. A 50-page report published by advocacy groups Amara A Conscious Effort and Growthwatch questioned the laying of sewage lines through micro-tunneling and the construction of a pumping station in a water body that exists naturally and is connected to a river. .
Activists pointed out that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and KEIIP (Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Programme) treat this living canal, spread over six wards of the city, as “just a creek” and as a way to carry sewage using pipelines. Project is prepared. Canal.
Jayant Ghosh, who lives in the area adjacent to the Churiyal canal, says that due to being connected to the river, the water in the canal increases and decreases daily during high and low tides. Mr. Ghosh said that a few decades ago, small boats also ply in the canal. However, the current project may turn it into just another drain, he said, adding that the local population would be affected by the canal’s slow death.
micro tunnel
Another issue raised by locals and activists is micro-tunneling, which involves laying drainage pipes under the canal bed. However, the major immediate concern is the shrinking of the canal floor due to construction activity. Parts of the canal are being covered after pipes and construction materials and debris scattered along the banks, encroachers are occupying the canal, he lamented. The land which was earlier with the government is slowly changing and being transferred to private owners, Mr. Ghosh said.
River activist Tapas Das said that till 2019 the Churiyal canal was under the irrigation department. He asks how did it come into the hands of KMC and KEIIP. “While there are examples, in places like Begar Khal in the western parts of Behala, where the canal is being closed and settlements are being built by the local people, the heartbreaking thing about the Churiyal canal is that the government agencies The nature of the reservoir itself is changing and eroding its natural capacity to carry water,” Mr. Das said. He also expressed apprehension that there may be floods in the region during monsoon.
Madhurima Bakshi of the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Calcutta, described the micro-tunneling process under the Churiyal Canal as “killing a living ecosystem”. Emphasizing on the importance of the network of canal systems in maintaining ecological balance, Professor Bakshi said that many areas are facing severe waterlogging after the project started. “When it rains, the major part of Thakurpukur-Behala-Parnasree gets submerged. The people of this vast area struggle for clean water and face the threat of poisonous insects due to the project,” the report said.
Activists said that even small efforts to create awareness about the importance of the canal faced opposition. Mr Das said that the South 24 Parganas police did not allow the cycle rally along the canal in September 2021 to create awareness among the people.
heavy silt
However, civic officials say that the Churiyal Canal has become heavily silted and requires dredging which is not economically feasible. He says that many areas do not have proper drainage system and micro-tunneling will prevent water logging in low-lying areas, especially Behala.
While KEIIP officials declined to comment on the record regarding the project’s feasibility and implementation, they did state that the project will continue to expand sewerage and drainage coverage and through a “$100 million loan” to provide sewage treatment. It is part of a mega infrastructure scheme funded by Kolkata”.
However, local people and activists are demanding “restoration of the natural character of the Churiyal Canal by re-excavation and redesigning of the project” as well as allocation of adequate compensation for the affected communities. Vidya Dinkar from Karnataka-based voluntary research and advocacy institute Growthwatch cited the recent floods in Bengaluru and said that attempts to turn a natural canal into a drain pipe are “badly thought and badly conceived and a recipe for disaster”. .