A City Reclaiming Assurance on Open Vulnerable Areas – A Dossier on Wetlands and Canals of Kolkata

Abstract

Our country is caught between times where it calls to match the international pace by adventuring into the Smart City Concepts and asking to face the ground realities by tolling to the Swacch Bharat Missions at the same time. The fact will remain that no macro level objectives can ever be focused upon without dissecting the micro level situations. The city of Kolkata grew on a glorious past attributed to many reasons - one of which is the presence of an extensive network of canals. The city is also blessed to exclusively harbor the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) which happens to be the world’s largest self sustaining organic sewage management system. But some loose administrative decisions let both EKW and the canals project an alarming image in their own ways today. These open spaces have been largely vulnerable to encroachments. This paper will focus on their role and potential by measuring their present day conditions and suggest some model proposals as an answer to the rapidly changing urban situations of the city.