Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - THREE HUNDRED ONE
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
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Unique identification scheme for all in Mumbai, even those from Bangladesh
Times of India - 7 hours ago... would be eligible to get a number under the central government's Unique Identification (UID) Scheme, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ...PC border alert over population register
Hindustan Times - Mar 4, 2010... chiefs on the National Population Register, which could form the principal database for theUnique Identity Number to be issued by the UID authority. ...Population register biggest exercise in history: Chidambaram Little About (blog)Work for Unique Identification Project to begin with Census
The Hindu - Feb 21, 2010PTI Along with Census 2011, work on database for the ambitious Unique Identification Project will also begin to provide national identity number (NIN) to ...Population register creation from April 1
Daily News & Analysis - - Mar 4, 2010The home ministry initiative aims at bringing homogeneity between NPR and unique identity (UID) numbers to be allotted by the Nandan Nilekani-led UID ...PIE Soft to help find lost key chains
Business Standard - Mar 4, 2010The key would be delivered to its owner with the help of this unique ID number," he said. PIE Software has tied up with India Post for free delivery of the ...India Having Tech Advisory Group for E-governance Projects
PC World - - Feb 26, 2010The move comes as the Indian government is preparing to invest in a large number of e-governance projects, including on a project to give unique identity ...Privacy will be protected under UIDs: Nilekani
Economic Times - Feb 27, 2010NEW DELHI: Privacy will be protected under the Unique Identity (UID) project and personal data will not be accessible to everybody, insists Nandan Nilekani, ...A year of UID: Much more than a number
Business Standard - - Feb 19, 2010The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), set up to issue a unique identification (UID) number to all 1.2 billion Indian residents, ...Govt pledges support for launch of UID project in JK Rising KashmirNilekani elaborates salient features of UID number Press Trust of IndiaNandan Nilekani to test the waters for unique IDs
Economic Times - Feb 28, 2010UIDAI aims to provide a unique 16-digit number ID card to at least 600 million residents over the next five years starting from August. ...Telecom to map India assets: Pitroda
Financial Express - Mar 4, 2010... said the exercise would be as big in scope as the Unique Identification Database, which aims to provide aunique identity number to each individual. ...Stay up to date on these results:
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Striving to abolish child labour in India - Guardian Weekly
When we arrive at the slum in Old Delhi we split into small teams and ... and have a nice long holiday on the day that child labour is abolished in India. ...
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Pvt sector role needed to make India slum-free: Govt .... Criminals and dynasty rule should be abolished from politics.10. ...
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MC accused of including posh localities slums list ... another councillor, suggested that octroi should not be abolished. he asked the government to clarify how it proposed to ... Latest News from ... This Section; The Times of India ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com › City › Chandigarh - Cached -[GKD] Cyber-Revolution in India's Slums
20 Apr 2001 ... The Government abolished the system of lifting human waste many years ....Cyber-Revolution in India's Slums Dear GKD Members, Computers, ...
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will reduce the slums in INDIA....Educate the kinds in the slums and ... Bribe is not a official thing, which can be abolished by administrative order. ...
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... of the pitiable levels of human degradation we see in the slums of India. Countries like Malaysia needed only two decades to virtually abolish poverty. ...
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Emphasis: "Empowerment of senior citizens living in slums – to live in dignity". ... procedures for senior citizens in slums, abolishing all discriminatory clauses. ... The Community Based Sanitation and Slum Development (CBS-SD), India ...
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6 Mar 2010 ... Kolkata: A major fire broke out in a slum area on the eastern ... C...more BangaloreMirror.com - Abolish income tax : Subhash Banka says I totally agree with Mr. Murthy. ..... Times of India | Economic Times | BizXchange ...
www.mumbaimirror.com/.../Major-fire-in-Kolkata-slum.html - 10 hours ago --
Our Poverty + their Wealth=India - Mainstream Weekly
6 Jun 2009 ... Sometimes it takes a foreign eye to see India in perspective. ... of the pitiable levels of human degradation we see in the slums of India. Countries like Malaysia needed only two decades to virtually abolish poverty. ...
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15 Sep 2008 ... a condition faced by 700 million people in India; and not having access ... A shocking fact from Planet of Slums is that "an estimated 60 percent ... had been re-housed and most urban shantytowns had been abolished. ...
revcom.us/a/143online/AWTW_Planet-en.html - Cached -Homeless International - India: SPARC
According to UN-HABITAT, India is home to 63% of all slum dwellers in South Asia. This amounts to 170 million people, 17% of the world's slum dwellers. ...
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Slum dwellers in India and risk of HIV. ... LESSONS LEARNT: The knowledge of the slumpeople was very poor and full of doubts. Women had worse knowledge as ...
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QueSeraSera posted Re:who are the slum-dwellers in India on 12 mnths ago. Yes, slums in ALL Indian cities have people of ALL castes living in small houses. ...
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hindustan.net › ... › Government of India expose Politicians - Cached - Similar -62 million slumdwellers, but India will be slum free: Selja
12 Sep 2009 ... New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) India has a whopping 62 million slumdwellers but it aims to be free of shanties through a slew of schemes such as earmarking of 20 ...
www.thaindian.com/.../62-million-slumdwellers-but-india-will-be-slum-free-selja_100246490.html - United States - Cached - Similar -Commonwealth Games a boon for slumdwellers: Selja - 1 post - 12 Sep 2009
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62 million slumdwellers, but India will be slum free: Selja ...
According to a 2001 survey, there are 62 million slumdwellers in India, housing and urban poverty alleviation minister Kumari Selja said.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/...slumdwellers...India...slum.../5003226.cms -Cached -Slum - SHACK / SLUM DWELLERS INTERNATIONAL [SDI]
About 200000 live in Slums. SUPF was formed in 1993 with support from the National Slum Dwellers Federation of India and has been part of SDI since 1996. ...
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The recent spate of demolitions has brought slum dwellers together and an umbrella organization "Jan Aandolan" (People's Movement) has been formed. ...
www.internationalviewpoint.org › ... › IV374 - January 2006 - Cached - Similar -SPARC
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Slum Dwellers in Indian Cities: The Case of Surat in Western India
Downloadable! Among the many problems associated with urban growth in India, an increase in the proportion of slums and squatters especially in its 'metros' ...
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Body Mass Index and Chronic Energy Deficiency Among Urban Bengalee ...
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28 May 2009 ... Ranchi, May 27: Slum dwellers residing in the state capital need not brace against the monsoon this year. Rather, they can look forward to ...
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Reaching the slum-dwellers through Community Health Volunteers (CHV)- an experiences of World Vision India (WVI) in Kolkata. Nag P, Misra K, Alyocis W; ...
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7 Jan 2010 ... To help slum dwellers start their business and gain educational benefits, home minister P Chidambaram distributed loan cheques to the needy ...
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Slum Dwellers and Community Development
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ibnlive.in.com › India - Cached - Similar -Livelihood details of Kolkata slumdwellers:An official study | MYSME
Among Kolkata slumdwellers,factory workers are among the highest earners. Although their wages are not high, their income is regular and secure. ...
www.mysmenews.com/hi/node/403 - Cached -Slum dwellers fight off goons - Kolkata - City - The Times of India
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Local business results for Tannery near Kolkata, West Bengal
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Liberia: Slums on Fire | Liberian Observer
Among the communities where previous fire incidents that have occurred, ... the most risk offire incident recurrence. Take a look at the Slums on Fire. ...
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Addressing mediapersons here, Prof A Marx of the People's Union for Human Rights alleged that many slums in the city were catching fire for inexplicable ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/...fire...in...slums/.../4869478.cms - Cached -acjnewsline2009
There is no separate register for the fire accidents in slums or any ... A George, a fire officer in the city says that there are incidents when rats take ...
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22 Nov 2009 ... Fire in slums politically motivated?. Published August 8th 2009). ... (From Slumdog Millionaire kids escape slum fire. ...
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A fire razed over 500 hutments of Panchannagram slums in Tiljala at the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, leaving thousands homeless. No casualties, however, were reported.The Victims are mostly SC, ST, OBC and Minority Origin Mulnivasi Underprivileged settled around DIDI Matua Mamata Banerjees Political Party TMC Headquarter. The Tannery of TANGRA, in Parc Circus Beleghat area has also been shifted in this area. Tiljala had been one of the largest slums of Kolkata that has since developed into an area populated with lower-income inhabitants. Originally housing refugees coming from Bangladesh and exhibiting very precarious conditions of urban life, it has continuously been upgraded and has now reached a level of a lower middle class neighborhood.
According to the fire department and police, the fire broke out at around 6.30 pm on Sunday.
"The slum was full of combustible items and leather products, which aggravated the fire at a massive pace. The fire broke out at around 11.30 am," a fire department source said.
"We cannot ascertain the exact reason of the fire now," he said.
Mind you, after the Basnati Colony, Ultadanga Fire, it is the Sixth Fire Incident in the Metro area!
What is the history of Tiljala?
Informal settlements are usually represented as areas of pure misery without any distinction or character. They are not thought of as containing different neighborhoods, nor having preferred or privileged areas. It's residents are reduced to purely suffering beings, lacking any individuality, identity or culture. A vast and homogeneous area of deprivation without any heterogeneity or diversity. Even if maybe intended in a caring (i.e. attention-raising) way, this disregard of difference robs the inhabitants of their individuality and therefore of one of their last assertions of a humane life.
I have interactions with the Residents time to time and know that not only Bengalies, a great Number of Hindi speaking as well as Punjabies live in the area and they have been forcibly Uprooted from their Livelihood and Home in the area which has become the den of Political Muscle Power and Irregular Economic Activities and Underground Business and Crime!
The fire spread rapidly in the slum, the locals said. At least 15 fire engines were brought in to control the blaze.
Slum dwellers and the authorities said the explosion of LPG cylinders in some huts caused the blaze.
The narrow slum lanes and the lack of ready water supply added more problems for fire department teams.
The large fire engines could not reach the blaze as they had to refill their tanks from a water source few kilometres away.
The police had sealed off a section of the bypass to let the the fire engines move freely and avoid any major traffic jams from Park Circus side. Residents said they ran out of their homes after they heard several loud explosions.
"We later figured out that it may have been gas cylinders. Most of the material used to build this hut is highly combustible, and the fire spread very quickly. We lost all our personal possessions," said Rani Mondal.
Fire Department personnel said the single-storey nature of the constructions made it easier for them to douse the flames, though the lack of water was slowing things down.
Police said electricity supply to the area had been cut off to avoid further mishaps.
state government officials feel that already the project which has been running well behind schedule, might get further delayed for want of participation of the tannery units.
though basic infrastructures like roads, drainage and water supply are nearing completion, the treatment plant is yet come up. another problem is the encroachment. though the cmda, the supervising authority, has built more than 250 houses beside the complex for rehabilitation of the locals who will have to be evicted for the project, officials of m.l. dalmiya & co. , the build operate and transfer partner of the state government, feel that the number of houses are inadequate which could make the construction of the project delayed.
according to an estimate only 133 tannery owners so far have agreed to shift their units to bantala while there are provisions for setting up of around 1,500 leather units there over a vast 1,100 acres. the complex is designed to offer modern amenities for manufacturing leather products. there are an estimated 550 tanneries in the city.
in a vist to the complex at bantala, this correspondent found signboards of a few leather units lying scattered in the vast land inside the complex ground. a large number of cattle have found the land a perfect roaming place. the vast land seemed to have no difference with barren agriculture land except well decorated gate and an office at the entry point of the complex.
the cmda authorities, however, are hopeful that the project will see the light of the day within a couple of years. " on our part we have made all necessary arrangements. we have already constructed the roads, drainage and water supply arrangements. the rehabilitation scheme is also ready for the locals. i hope the project will not be delayed for an indefinite period," sudhangshu seal, the cmda board member, who made a on the spot survey said.
Where do the residents of Tiljala come from, what demographic and social groups are they from and what cultures exist in Tiljala? Are people of similar origin settling in the same areas of Tiljala, or does a mixture of cultural or ethnic heritage occur, as is maybe one central characteristic of urbanity? Are there preferred areas and locations in Tiljala, that people try to move to? Is there an middle-class section? Rich families? Do residents move from one area of Tiljala to another? Do they have second residencies in other parts of the city or the country? Are there schools which are preferred, shops which attract many costumers because of the quality of goods, transportation systems which facilitate movement? What is the structure of land ownership in the settlement? What is the history of Tiljala? Which parts are the oldest, which parts are growing fastest? What are the proposals and masterplans that have been developed for the settlement? Could Tiljala be a model of how slums can transform into (lower) middle-class neighborhoods? What has happened to the original population? Have the people remained with the neighborhood being upgraded, or has the neighborhood become the living quarter of a different part of the society, with the original inhabitants being pushed out even further into newer slums?
These questions have to be answered to understand the Slum dwellers in kolkata! They Never know as our Partition Victim Bengali SC Communities live and die with MIND SET Fixed , modified with Brahaminical Zionist Mind Control blaming the MUSLIMs, Jinnah and Muslim league for their Miserable Plight and Underclass status and NEVER know about the Brahaminical Zionist Conspiracy Global in Free Market Democracy, the latest development followed by Neo Liberal LPG Monopolistic Aggression, Economic Ethnic Cleansing , Segregation, SEZ Retail Chain Infrastructure Drive. Living in the UNAUTHORISED Colonies and Slums, the Majority Mulnivasi Population in and around Kolkata Never know their Legal Status and the Mystery of the Man Made calamities which occur so often. They have no Identity and No Nationality. No Human Right. No Civil Right. They are engaged to pass the time on Ad Hoc Basis with survival strategy top earn daily Bread. They have no idea about the Political System, Economic Reforms, Market Dominating Communities, Citizenship Amendment Act or Unique Identity Number and even their Problems. not to mention the Basic causes of the Problems and the solution! Just because they know the Indian Holocaust as the Result of Religious Partition and have been uprooted from their Folk and Mulnivasi History as well as Identity. These face less people live and die ALONE as an Individual as their Community life based on Econimy and Culture, Livelihood and languages have been killed.
The ACADEMIA led by Brahamins with coopted SC, ST, OBC and Minority representaion have reduced their Folk into Folklore and Converted themselves into SUBHUMAN Industrial Urban and Semi Urban By Product.
It is True in Kolkata as well as True in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Banglore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Hyderabad as elsewhere anywhere in the Country as ST and SC OBC Refugee Population is Completely SEGREGATED and other indigenous aboriginal communities have little Symathy or Communication with them in an Environment of Civil War declared by the Corporate Politics and Government of India supported by Media, Civil Society and Intelligensia completely Brahaminical.
In Bengal, due the anti Muslim Mindset and departure from Traditional Dalit Muslim Unity, SC Communities have no friends as the OBC Communities do not Identify themselves with the Mulnivasi Majority as they have no Benefit in terms of Resrvation and quota in Bengal as yet. The Brahmin Front Ruling has Isolated SC and refugee Communities and the Slumdwellers from Forty Two Percent OBC and Intense Muslim hatred has desroyed the Abotriginal Indigenous Equations as SC, ST, OBC and Minorities refrain from their only Surviavl Strategy of Mulnivasi concept uniting all the NON Brahaminical Communities as Rock Solid.Even the so called dalit Intellegensia, BSP and Bamcef Activists live with Isolated Segregated Mindset sponsered by the Brahamins and Brahaminical Acdemia.The ICE is very hard to crack! Hence, the Politics and all social, Cultural, economic Activities are vertically divided and Polarised in between Power and Resistance Hegemonies, both of which are Brahaminical and the Brahmins speak SUB Altern!
Two days after the fire at 40, Strand Road, left a century-old warehouse gutted, West Bengal Fire Services director Gopal Bhattacharya on Tuesday lashed out against the trading community blaming its carelessness for the increase in number of fire accidents.
With nine fire incidents reported in the city in the last three months, Bhattacharya said the traders are yet to learn from the Nandaram fire, which destroyed the Nandaram market in the Burabazar area last year.
"Kolkata traders have not learnt anything from the fire which destroyed the entire building. Even today they rampantly flout fire safety norms," said Bhattacharya.
The inquiry report submitted after the 100-hour-long blaze at Nandaram market had pointed out that the building had violated all fire safety precautions.
Bhattacharya today further added that none of the warehouses on Strand Road had installed any fire safety measures. "Most of the fires in these areas occur due to electrical short-circuits, but the Kolkata traders do not seem bothered. Why should they blame us for not controlling the fire when these accidents break out because of their negligence," said Bhattacharya.
Tangra Leather Tannery up in Flames
Two persons were injured in a fire that broke out at a tannery on South Tangra Road near Tiljala this morning.
Twenty one fire engines fought the blaze for nearly three hours before the fire could be brought under control.
According to an official of the State Fire and Emergency Services department, the fire broke out at Shiv Tannery around 9 a.m.. As chemicals and other inflammable articles were stored in the leather tannery in kolkata, the fire spread rapidly to the adjoining areas.
Neither the cause of the fire nor the extent of damage caused by it could be ascertained. A senior State Fire and Emergency Service Department official said that the tanneries didn't have adequate fire safety mechanism.
Two fire fighters including one Mr Badal Sarkar were injured while fighting the blaze. They were later taken to a local hospital for treatment. An FIR was lodged against the owner of the tannery, police said. "The complaint was lodged against him for not installing fire preventive measures in the tannery," a senior police officer said. The accused is absconding, he added.
Newsmen, who went to cover the incident, were prevented from doing so by a section of locals. Locals even resisted fire fighters from starting the fire fighting operations alleging delayed arrival of fire tenders. They alleged that fire tenders were not brought to the spot on time though they had called police immediately after the flames were noticed. A senior State Fire and Emergency Services Department official said that they faced immense problems while taking fire tenders nearer to the tannery as the approach roads were narrow.
Later, a portion of the wall of the factory had to be demolished to make room for the fire tenders. Locals alleged that no action has been taken either by police or the State Fire and Emergency Services department though there were no fire extinguishing arrangement in tanneries located in the area.
Mr Pratim Chatterjee, state fire minister said action would be taken against the factory owner.
Source: The Statesman
News Articles: Slum Fires in Chennai
recently come out against the government with charges that the recent spate of Chennai slum fires may have been an intential doing. In the last few months, over 400 houses have been destroyed and five lives have been claimed.
The Express reports:
CHENNAI: A fact-finding team that was formed to investigate accidental slum fires in Chennai this year says these slum fires, which claimed five lives and destroyed over 400 huts, could be politically motivated.
"…What is surprising is that in all these slums where the fire accidents happened, the slum dwellers ere being forced by the government to vacate the place. This eviction proposal was for various developmental projects, including the MRTS project, Vyasarpadi flyover, widening of Vyasarpadi-Basin Bridge Road, Malar Hospital-Nandambakkam Road, War Memorial-Maduravoyal road," said Madhumitha Dutta, activist, who was part of the 12-member team. While the causes for the fires are still under debate, the rehabilitation activities by the government are nothing short of deplorable, she added.
Kolkata slums destroyed in devastating fire
A fire destroyed slums adjacent to the Bidhan-nagar railway station in Kolkata and rendered nearly 1000 families homeless in less than three hours. Fire engines could not reach the spot in time due to a blockade of approach roads since morning by agitators. The blockade in the Beliaghata area was by auto rickshaw drivers because of an inadequate supply of LPG gases for their vehicles. The blockade affected traffic to and from the airport and other important areas. The intention of the agitators was to highlight their plight to the authorities because they had to spend as much as three hours in queue to get their refill of gas. The result was late arrival of fire engines and the hurling of blames. Who is to really to blame? Should not the organizers of the mindless agitations be held responsible? These forms of protest have become the standard in Kolkata. No one spares a thought for the sufferings of the common man. Deaths of serious patients during bandhs have happened. Would things change with a change of leadership at the Chief Minister's level? Can Mamata Banerjee assure her electorate that if she becomes the Chief Minister such incidents would cease?
2006 Kolkata leather factory fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Promoted Inferno:Fire guts Kolkata markets, spreads to multi-storeys
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
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The blaze was still raging midday Saturday, and officials say they don't yet know how many people have been affected!Around 2,500 shops and several buildings housing tarpaulin and cloth shops were gutted, fire brigade sources said.Shortage of water supply from the nearby Mullickghat pumping station to the area due to power cut compounded the problem for firefighters, the sources said. The inadequacy of the fire fighting system in this eastern metropolis was laid bare, as the army, air force and the airport authorities had to be called in to control the blaze. It was not clear how the early morning fire began but electrical short circuit was reported to be a possible cause. The flames spread across the area engulfing buildings, burning markets. A thick umbrella of noxious fumes covered the sky.
West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi also reached the spot while Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharaya supervised the fire fighting for a while.
'People trading or living here never think of danger. There is no arrangement of water while the fire brigade does not have ladders tall enough,' said Bhattacharya.
As the authorities struggled to contain a devastating fire at the Burrabazar wholesale market that gutted over 2500 shops, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused the West Bengal government of failing to have a proper disaster management mechanism. Claiming that sabotage could not be ruled out, she wondered whether the fire was to evict people. "It has been seen that such fires occur only on Saturdays and Sundays.
"Political leaders are coming here to be photographed, while none is bothered about the fact that the fire brigade arrived three hours late," she said.
The blaze left thousands of people homeless! Police and fire officials say a huge fire raged through a market in the east Indian city of Calcutta early Saturday, causing no casualties but destroying more than 1,000 shops and homes.While all shops in the area have been vacated, a large crowd of traders and spectators gathered on the streets. Traders in the area watched helplessly for hours as firemen struggled to bring the fire under control.
Angry residents and traders said the fire brigade men came late! The fire broke out at around 1.30 a.m. at Tripalpatti, a wholesale market for plastic tarpaulin, on Jamunalal Bajaj Street, possibly from a short circuit. West Bengal Fire Minister Pratim Chatterjee said the traders who had stored flammable articles illegally in the congested area were responsible for the inferno.
"In an old city like Kolkata, we perhaps cannot prevent this but unlike in many such fire incidents in Mumbai, here we have been able to save human lives," he said.
While the buildings burned, the traders and residents wailed as they lost everything to the fire.!
It is quite a ritual in the growing Metroes, megacities, suburbs and cities of importance in Shining Sensex India with Nano Technology of Hightech NRI Ruling Hegemony supported by Money Mafia and Media. Urbanisation and Industrialisation continue as continues the process of Eviction and depopulation!Burrabazar is the wholesale market area of Kolkata with clusters of unplanned and unauthorized constructions. The fire spread fast, fanned by a breeze and helped along by inflammables like plastics, polythene and garments.
Fires are common in India where safety regulations are often flouted. In Kolkata, Most of the Fire Incidents ocuur on Weekend! Why? Otherwise it is quite Occasional in festival seasons.Burrabazar has become a notorious place of Eviction and Promoterraj via Fire Incidents. The State Machinery helps this mechanism of infrastructural displacement and capture Economy with inherent Inactivity. The Great Ganges follows some hundred Meters away but these Fire Ocurrances are never controlled until and unless targeted depopulation takes place. Big Bosses have the Insurance coverace and thousands avenues to be compensated. But the small traders and tenants have no scope to reaccomodate in the economy, business, livelihood and life! Tata`s joy Ride in Nano, the Lakh takia car has been superimposed in the psyche of the masses with Media Boom! Buddha gestapo has every reason to justify the ways of Marxist capitalist Ways of development! In Fact, Metro Kolkata is geared up to witness a Historical Brigade rally only tomorrow to Celebrate Nandigram Singur Victory. The Genocide master of Marichjhanpi fame, Jyoti Basu is recommended to get Bharat Ratna. Here you are, it was an auspicious occassion for a Promoted Inferno right into the Heart Of Kolkata!
'The whole situation is sad. There is no disaster management system in place here. If anything happens in the middle of night in Kolkata there is hardly any infrastructure to mitigate it,' said Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot.
'Again mysteriously the fire occurred on a Saturday night. I am clueless why all such fires in market areas occur on weekend nights. Is there a plan behind it to evict people?' asked Banerjee, not ruling out sabotage behind the incident.
A fire that broke out in a market in Kolkata's crammed Burrabazar area in the wee hours on Saturday spread across the area engulfing eight homes, including multi-storeyed buildings, leaving thousands homeless in the heart of the metropolis. Burrabazar, the famous Kolkata wholesale market area with congested clusters of unplanned and unauthorised constructions in the north-central zone, turned into an inferno of flammable plastics, polythene and garments, but no casualty was reported, police said.
"At least eight buildings are engulfed in fire and six have been affected very badly. A 15-storied house also caught fire," a fire brigade official said.
"At least 42 fire engines are fighting to put out the blaze. The fire is yet to be brought under control. We are trying our best but there was initially a problem of availability of water," Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty said.
"We have no report of any casualty. No one was trapped inside. We ensured that. We had to ferry the water initially but now that problem was solved," Chakraborty said.
Local MP Sudhangshu Sil said efforts were on to bring fire-fighting equipment from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport to fight the blaze, which covered the area in a thick umbrella of noxious smoke.
Defence sources said that two fire tenders each from the Army and the Air Force were also sent to the spot following a request from the state government.
Stating that ladders of 52 metre height were being used to fight the blaze, the Fire Services Minister said, that although these were the second highest air ladders in the world, those're only meant for rescue purposes.
The congestion of the roads and lack of proper building plans of the fire-engulfed buildings were adding to the problem, Chatterjee claimed.
Police said all buildings in the area were evacuated as a precautionary measure and the Mahatma Gandhi Road, connecting Howrah station with the Sealdah Terminus, has been closed to traffic.
The West Bengal BJP demanded a CBI probe into the Burrabazar fire and immediate dismissal of the Fire Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee.
"It was an unprecedented fire in recent memory and necessitated requisitioning firemen from the army and airforce. We feel that there must be a conspiracy and specific motive behind the fire at Burrabazar and the CBI should be asked to probe it," Bjp state general secretary Rahulk Sinha said.
Demanding Chatterjee's dismissal for 'negligence', the BJP leader alleged that the state government was unaware of the mushrooming of multistoreyed buildings without fire safety measures in congested places like Burrabazar.
"The state government has not yet taken any step in the past on the basis of probes into fires in the city," Sinha alleged.
CPI(M) not to seek Bharat Ratna for Jyoti Basu
New Delhi (PTI): The CPI(M) on Saturday put cold water on suggestions for Bharat Ratna to veteran Marxist Jyoti Basu, saying the party does not accept state awards.
"It is not a practice of our leaders to accept state awards," CPI(M) sources said here when asked for comments on reports suggesting Basu's name for the top civilian award.
The sources said that during the tenure of P V Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister, the government had offered Padma Vibhushan to former CPI(M) General Secretary and veteran freedom fighter EMS Namboodiripad.
The party had turned down the offer even at that time, they said, adding that it has never been the practice to formally ask for such awards.
The name of the Marxist leader cropped up after senior BJP leader L K Advani wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee be given Bharat Ratna.
"When the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee came up for Bharat Ratna, there is nothing wrong in the name of Jyoti Basu. He is also a great leader of the country", senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said yesterday.
RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad also supported the nomination of Basu, who holds the record of India's longest serving Chief Minister. Basu headed the Left Front government in West Bengal from 1977 till 2000.
As the controversy continued, the name of DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has also come up. BSP supremo Mayawati has also demanded Bharat Ratna for party founder Kanshiram.
CPI(M) criticises BJP, not opposed to Bharat Ratna for Basu
Kolkata (PTI): The CPI(M) on Friday accused the BJP of politicising the Bharat Ratna by proposing the award for former premier A B Vajpayee, while indicating that it was not opposed to party patriarch Jyoti Basu being conferred the country's highest civilian honour.
"I don't know the parameters under which Bharat Ratna is awarded or whether Vajpayee fulfils that criteria. But it is definite that they want play politics over it," CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose told reporters here in reply to a question.
Asked whether Basu should be awarded the Bharat Ratna, Bose, who is West Bengal's ruling Left Front chairman said, "I do not know the parametres on the basis of which an individual is conferred this honour. If Jyoti Basu fulfils these parametres then they (the union government) may think it over."
Nano launch may depress two-wheeler prices: Assocham
New Delhi (PTI): Roll out of Tata's small car 'Nano' may lead to a 20 per cent reduction in prices of two-wheelers and a 35 per cent decline in prices of second-hand cars, industry chamber Assocham has said.
"About 20 per cent price cut is expected in two-wheeler segment with launch of Tata-Nano," the chamber said while releasing the finding of a quick survey of 250 CEOs.
Nano is expected to be launched close to Diwali.
Majority of CEOs said the Tatas are expected to give a stiff challenge to two-wheeler manufactures, who would be forced to go in for product and technology innovation.
The survey claimed that scooters and mopeds launched last year witnessed a poor response from buyers, adding that experts were sceptical about the higher engine-capacity motorcycles that entered the cost-sensitive Indian market.
About 25 per cent of the respondents felt that the two-wheeler market has already shrunk to about 15.50 lakh units by November last year compared to over 19 lakh units a year ago. "The segment would witness a further decline as there would be various options in the four-wheeler segment with bridging of price difference," the chamber said.
Fire and Kolkata theatres go hand in hand
kolkata: the history of theatre in kolkata has been closely interlinked with devastating fires since as early as 1797 when the bengalee theatre was destroyed. the blaze which gutted rangmahal theatre on wednesday is an addition to an already long list. among the theatres linked to mysterious fires are those established by the british like the chowringhee theatre and the sans souci and those set up for indians, the bengalee theatre of gerashim lebedeff, the great national theatre, the minerva, the university institute, the muktangan and, above all, the star theatre. "while some of the incidents are purely accidents, some others definitely have a conspiracy behind them," said nripendra saha, former editor of the 'group theatre' magazine. the conspiracy theory exists in the case of the bengalee theatre, the first one for the bengalis and, for that matter, indians, set up by gerashim stepanovich lebedeff, a russian musician, who had come to india in 1875 to seek his fortune. the story goes that its competitor, the calcutta theatre, had infiltrated one of their men, joseph battle, into the bengalee on domtollah street where he suceeded in creating a division among the staff members. it is not exactly known whether battle himself set fire to the bengalee or masterminded its fiery end in may 1797. the historic star theatre, where the doyen of bengali theatre girish ghosh and eminent actresses like nati binodini and tarasundari were associated, founded in 1883 was also destroyed in a fire. sri ramakrishna paramhansa also attended a show, chaitanya lila , with noti binodini in the lead role directed by his disciple, girish ghosh, at the star in 1884. other greats like amritalal basu, ardhenusekhar mustafi, sisir kumar bhaduri in the earlier days and later debnarayan gupta and uttam kumar were also associated with it at different times. the theatre changed hands several times. on the night of october 13, 1991 it went up in flames. one of the greatest directors that bengal ever produced, sisir kumar bhaduri, besides thespians like manoranjan bhattacharya, durgadas bandyopadhyay and bidhayak bhattacharya were associated with the latest victim, rangmahal, established by rabi roy and satu sen in 1931. the theatre, closed for a long time was being let out for weddings and social functions. it was gutted in the wee hours yesterday. the ownership of this theatre too changed several times. down memory lane, the other two fire accidents occurred in the chowringhee theatre and sans souci where an eminent actress of the time was killed. but these cases were accidents. inaugurated on november 25, 1813, the chowringhee theatre was stated to be the best among the british theatres of calcutta of yore. prince dwarakanath tagore, the grandfather of rabindranath tagore, was its member and bought the theatre when it was in dire financial crisis. it was reduced to ashes on the night of may 31, 1839. but it was the sans souci theatre, opened on august 21, 1839 at park street where the sole death occurred in the history of fire accidents in theatres here. leech, the body and soul of the sans souci, died after her costume caught fire during the staging of a farcehandsome husband in november 1841. on december 31, 1873, the inaugural day of the great national theatre, the building was severely damaged by a fire sparked by a gas 'star light' on the stage. the muktangan and the university institute were also damaged in blazes in the 1970s and 1980s. the fires were caused by short circuits, nripendra saha said. it is significant to note that the very first theatre house here, play house, was destroyed by nawab sirajuddaulla during his invasion of calcutta in 1756.
Workers caught in tannery tangle
KOLKATA: The fresh drive to disconnect power and water lines of the tanneries in the Topsia-Tiljala belt has caught the workers in a bend. The prevailing mood among them is confusion and uncertainty.
On one hand, they apprehend that the drive, apparently a tactical move by the authorities to force more units to the new Calcutta Leather Complex at Karaidanga, may enhance the already visible trend among owners to shift base from the state. On the other, fissures have started to appear in the worker-owner camaraderie forged at the initial stages of the movement against the government's efforts to push the tanneries to the complex. That is why, some trade union leaders felt, Saturday's drive was not resisted.
The main reason for the divide is that as the idle time between closure and relocation gets longer, disputes regarding payment of workers' dues are coming to the fore. The Supreme Court, which ordered the relocation on environmental grounds, also laid down certain safeguards for workers. These included wages for the idle period, shifting bonus and payment of six years' salaries to every worker retrenched. This, the owners feel, is too much for them as they, too, are not sure when they would be able to start production.
Only the Crescent Tannery workers, after a prolonged battle at labour fora, have just managed extract the dues stipulated by the court, Calcutta Leather Tannery Workmen's Union general secretary Babu Dutta said.
Even as the government wants to show the apex court when the mid-October deadline comes that most of the tanneries have been moved to Karaidanga, a visit to the complex gives one no clue as when the infrastructure, including the common effluent treatment plant, would be complete. This discourages the owners to shift there.
The workers, too, have their own grievances regarding infrastructure. They have not only been working in the tanneries in the Tiljala-Topsia-Tangra area, but also living there. Their demands for housing and hospitals at the new complex have fallen on deaf ears.
Kolkata, India
by Nitai Kundu
Summary
The slums of Kolkata can be divided into three groups: the older ones, up to 150 years' old, in the heart of the city, are associated with early urbanization. The second group dates from the 1940s and 1950s and emerged as an outcome of industrialization-based rural–urban migration, locating themselves around industrial sites and near infra-structural arteries. The third group came into being after the independence of India and took vacant urban lands and areas along roads, canals and on marginal lands. In 2001, 1.5 million people, or one third of Kolkata's population, lived in 2011 registered and 3500 unregistered slums.
The 1956 Slum Act defines slums as 'those areas where buildings are in any respect unfit for human habitation'. The Calcutta Municipal Council Act of 1980 defines bustees as 'an area of land not less than 700 square metres occupied by, or for the purposes of, any collection of huts or other structures used or intended to be used for human habitation'. The Central Statistics Organization defines slums as an area 'having 25 or more katcha structures, mostly of temporary nature, or 50 or more households residing mostly in katcha structures huddled together or inhabited by persons with practically no private
latrine and inadequate public latrine and water facilities'. There is a host of different slum categories, primarily divided into two categories:
The bustee-type generally has some form of secure tenure or ownership rights based on land rent or lease, with structures built by the slum dwellers, or house rental/lease of structures built by third parties.
Tenure security is, in principle, not available to the unregistered land encroaching settlements on road sides (jhupri), along canals (khaldhar) or on other vacant land (udbastu).
It is envisaged that the number of urban poor will increase considerably in the near future due to natural growth and in-migration, combined with a lack of wellplanned and long-term intervention strategies.
Over 40 per cent of Kolkata's slum residents have been slum dwellers for two generations or longer, and more than half originate from the Kolkata hinterland. With the majority engaged in the informal sector, with average monthly earnings of between 500 and 1700 rupees and a household size of five to six persons, some three-quarters of the Kolkata slum population are below the poverty line.
The standard of living of the slum dwellers caused concern even during colonial rule. For a long time, slums were treated as an eyesore and a nuisance to be dealt with for reasons of safety, security, and the health and hygiene of the urban elite. Policy interventions focused mostly on clearance and removal. The First, Second and Third Five-Year Plans laid emphasis on slum eradication and removal. Various attempts were made to address the issue in alternative ways; but all failed for different reasons.
The Environment Improvement in Urban Sector (EIUS) scheme, in operation since 1974, has been partially successful in improving the living environment of slum dwellers; but it has not helped in preventing the growth of new slums through migration or natural increase. The scheme suffers from lack of community involvement in planning, implementation and monitoring of the programme. Another initiative that has generally been effective in reducing urban poverty is the National Slum Development Programme (NSDP).
Although some considerable successes have been achieved, there is a long way to go for Kolkata in terms of addressing the issues related to urban poverty and slums. There is an urgent need to establish clear long-term strategies that address such issues as:
greater effectiveness of urban poverty-eradication programmes;
| This summary has been extracted from: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5009455-kolkata-slums-destroyed-in-devastating-fire UN-Habitat (2003) Global Report on Human Settlements 2003, The Challenge of Slums, Earthscan, London; Part IV: 'Summary of City Case Studies', pp195-228. |
Tangra, Calcutta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tangra is a region in east Kolkata that traditionally housed a large number of tanneries owned by people of Hakka Chinese origin. "47 South Tangra Road", may be the most confusing postal address, as it used to cover the whole of Chinatown Tangra with over 350 tanneries. Most of the standing structures have been built, over many years, by the industrious Hakka Chinese, upon marshy and reclaimed low lying land. Over the past several decades, it has served as the location of Calcutta's Chinatown. This is not a coincidence; the Hakka Chinese of Calcutta have gradually turned this part of the Kolkata into an important destination for sourcing finished and semi-finished leather. The Hakka Chinese specialized in the manufacture of leather and turned it into one of the major industries of West Bengal, providing employment to tens of thousands of local inhabitants. In addition to the huge volume of exports to the developing and developed countries, finished leather is supplied to the major shoe and leather goods manufacturers all over the country. Many made-to-order shoe shops in Kolkata are also run by enterpreneurs from this community.
Food from Tangra is a distinct variety of traditional Hakka Chinese cuisine adapted to Indian ingredients and the Bengali palate. This has spread to the rest of India, along with the recipes earlier unique to Tangra. Tangra is now the most popular destination for Chinese food. Chinese food sold in Tangra restaurants are now known all over the world as 'Hakka Style" Chinese food.
Kolkata Chinatown is changing rapidly. The population is no longer renewed by waves of migration and many traditional professions such as dentistry, laundry and tannery are no longer the preserve of the Chinese. The West Bengal government, under direction from the Supreme Court, recently moved all tanneries to Bantala, a suburb in the east of Kolkata.
The success of "Hakka style" Chinese food in the rest of India encouraged a migration of many Chinese families to other cities as the economic fortunes of Tangra decayed. Many landmark Chinese eateries, including Nanking, Waldorf, Peiping and Fat Mama have closed or changed hands and fortunes. The once prosperous Calcutta Chinese community is now clearly in decline. However, a boom in Tangra's unique Indian-Chinese food is attracting a lot of attention these days and the cuisine will probably live on in Kolkata and in the global Indian Diaspora.
[edit]External links
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2006 Kolkata leather factory fire
| Date | November 22, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Time | 2:30 IST |
| Location | West Bengal, India |
| Casualties | |
| 10 dead | |
| 18 injured | |
The 2006 Kolkata leather factory fire was a deadly industrial fire that occurred in West Bengal, India, on 22 November, 2006. The fire broke out in a leather bag factory located in the Tannix International, Topsia, in the South 24 Parganas district in Greater Kolkata area, and generated a wave of criticism of the poor safety standards in place among the country's sweatshops.
The industrial fire claimed the lives of at least ten people, who were unable to escape because the illegal factory's doors were locked shut. Authorities, in response to local residents' angry criticism, admitted that the emergency response to the accident was substandard. Two separate investigations were launched. One inquiry focused on the fire itself, while the other sought to ascertain criminal responsibility for the disaster as well as the operation of the illegal factory.[1] The results of both are either pending or have yet to be released to the general public.
[edit]Background
Investigators confirmed that the site of the fire had been used as an illegal factory to manufacture leather bags.[1] The factory was located on the third floor of a four-story building,[2][3] which also featured residential units.[4] Investigators determined that the first and second floors of the structure housed additional illegal factories.[3] The factory destroyed in the fire was found to be owned and operated by Tenex Exports,[3] and all of the people who were killed or injured in the fire slept in the factory at night, a situation that is not considered unusual in India. There was had just one emergency exit, and 40 workers were housed in the structure at the time of the fire,[5] and the owner had locked the factory at night to prevent workers from running away with leather goods.[6] The building was located in the Tannix International, Topsia, in the South 24 Parganas district of Greater Kolkata region.[2][5]
[edit]Event and emergency response
The fire broke out in the factory at around 2:30 IST,[2] as workers slept. Once they became aware of the blaze, the employees found they were unable to break through the factory's locked doors. Five fire tenderswere sent to the scene,[2] but by the time they arrived, local residents had broken down two locked gates and already rescued the surviving workers.[3] These impromptu Rescue efforts were delayed however, when an individual carrying keys to open the door nervously dropped them while attempting to open the gate.[3] At least 10 people were dead by the time rescuers reached the factory's interior,[7] with a further eighteen injured. The survivors, many suffering from burns over 70 percent of their bodies, were taken to the National Medical College and Hospital, where victims had to be left on the floor due to a shortage of beds.[8] The hospital did not have a burns unit, and the only treatments available at the hospital were ointments and saline drips. The patients were eventually moved to other hospitals.[5] Local MLA Javed Khan later said that the death toll is actually at least twelve, but there has been no official confirmation of this.[2][9] The Rapid Action Force was also deployed to maintain calm.[2][8]
[edit]Criticisms of the emergency response
 | Wikinews has related news:Nine killed in Kolkata leather factory fire |
People living in the vicinity of the illegal factory said that the number of deaths might have been reduced had the fire service responded promptly. They claimed that the fire brigade failed to send personnel or equipment to the scene until more than an hour after the brigade first received word of the fire. Residents also claimed that it was only after the police arrived and requested fire service backup that any help was sent.[2] In addition, some on the scene reported an inadequate number of ambulances.[9] The city's mayor admitted to this lapse the following morning.[9] Local people also complained that the victims should never have been taken to the Calcutta National Medical College, but that they should have been transported directly to hospitals with burns units.[10]
[edit]Investigations
[edit]Accident investigation
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire as well as the reason the building had been locked from the outside.[10]To this end, the building was inspected by the KMC, and was subsequently scheduled to be demolished on Thursday, November 23. However, the structure is standing as of 2007.[5] Although no actual cause of the fire has been established, it has been noted that large quantities ofinflammable materials, such as adhesives, were stored inside the building.[2] It was also revealed that the factory experienced a similar fire two years previously, but on that occasion there were no fatalities.[6]
[edit]Criminal investigation
A separate criminal investigation focused on the illegal factory itself.[1] Almost all factories and homes in the area were illegal and unauthorised,[5] and do not follow building codes and sanctions.[6] Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said action would be taken against the owners of the factory and house, and Superintendent of Police of South 24 Parganas S. N. Gupta said that the owners of the building would be arrested.[8] Investigation has shown that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) issued notices to the building on three separate occasions, in 1988, 1989, and 1992, yet took no further action. It has been shown, however, that the KMC also approved trade licences for two businesses to operate from the building.[5] The owner of the building, Khurshid Alam, has had a police complaint filed against him by the fire department for illegal construction charges. Mohammed Sagir Ahmed and Mohammed Asif, the owners of Tenex Exports, also face related charges.[3] Both investigations are ongoing.
[edit]Aftermath
The day after this tragedy, workers in the unorganized leather industry of Topsia area held protest rallies demanding compensation for the relatives of the deceased workers, better working conditions and a probe into the fire mishap.[11] The mayor of Kolkata convened an all-party meeting to discuss the incident and also promised to initiate a drive demolish illegal constructions in the area.[11] The labour inspectors inspected the building and declared the factory as illegal.[11] Even though the building was declared illegal and unsafe, a month later, the police raided the house and found that another leather factory was operating behind closed doors in the ground floor of the building.[12] The civic officials issued a notice to stop any work in the building.[12] Though local residents alleged that clandestine work started in the building with the help of local MLA, Javen Khan, Khan himself blamed it rather on the police.[12]
In 2008, two more fire mishaps occurred in the leather industries in the area, one in the month of March and the other in June: a total of nine people got injured in these two incidents.[13] Even though fire safety licenses and insurances for the workers of the leather factories were made mandatory after the fire incident of 2006, none of the authorities—the municipal corporation, the services department of the state government, and the police—ensured that these were actually followed by the factories.[13] The local residents claimed that the owner of the factory that was impacted in the fire incident of 2006, now operates from another address of the same area.[13] According to fire brigade officials, the Topsia area along with nearby Tiljala and Tangra forms the most fire-prone area of the city, and that around three to four fires break out every week, though they do not get reported in the media as there is no loss of life.[13]
[edit]References
- ^ a b c "Nine Die, 18 Injured in Kolkata Factory Fire - Irna". Islamic Republic News Agency. 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Fire in Kolkata factory, 9 dead". CNN-IBN. 2006-11-22. Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
- ^ a b c d e f "Locked in to be burnt to death—Nine killed in illegal factory in illegal house". The Telegraph, Calcutta. 2006-11-23. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ "Fire in Kolkata leather factory kills 9 people.". ExpressIndia.com. 2006-11-22. Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
- ^ a b c d e f "Factory Fire in Kolkata Causes 9 Deaths". India Daily. Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ a b c "Locked-in workers battle death by fire". Express India. 2006-11-23. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ "The men who died young". Calcutta Telegraph. 2006-11-24. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ a b c "Leather factory fire kills nine". India eNews. 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ a b c "12 charred to death in factory fire". The India Tribune. 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ a b "Locked-in workers charred in Topsia". The Times of India. 2006-11-23. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ a b c "Fire lights spark of protest—Workers march in sweatshop zone's first rally". The Telegraph, Calcutta. 2006-11-24. Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ a b c Imran Ali Siddiqui (2006-12-30). "Bag unit sealed". The Telegraph, Calcutta. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ a b c d "Sweatshop belt plays with fire & life—Lessons from 2006 Topsia Road tragedy forgotten; illegal businesses continue to thrive". The Telegraph, Calcutta. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
Hawkers in Kolkata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hawkers in Kolkata numbering 275,000 generated business worth Rs. 8,772 crore (around 2 billionU.S. dollars) in 2005.[1] In Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal, almost 80 per cent of the pavements are encroached by hawkers and illegal settlers.[2]In many countries, hawkers use pavements or other public places to retail their goods or services but in Kolkata the magnitude has drawn special attention of administrators and law courts.
[edit]Background
The population of Kolkata urban agglomeration grew from 1,510,000 in 1901 to 4,670,000 in 1951 to 9,194,000 in 1981.[3] Kolkata did not draw in people from rural areas by offering a better quality of life. As in any other Indian city, the immigrants found poverty in Kolkata as severe and dehumanising as in the villages, but was offered a relatively quick opportunity of new income through placement in the urban economy. With the partition of India in 1947, the metropolitan cities of Kolkata and Delhiwere flooded by displaced persons or refugees from Pakistan. The Union government at Delhi, with better resources at its command, handled the task of rehabilitation faster and more comprehensively, than the state government in Kolkata could accomplish. Left largely to themselves the refugees in Kolkata gradually secured their placements in the urban economy.[3]
The 1951 census found that only 33.2 percent of Kolkata's inhabitants were city-born, the rest were immigrants: 12.3 percent were from elsewhere in West Bengal, 26.6 percent from other Indian states, and 26.9 percent from East Pakistan. In 1981, the Government of West Bengal estimated the total number of persons displaced from East Bengal to the state to be around 8 million or one sixth of the total population of the state.[4] Several million refugees settled in the outskirts of Kolkata.[5]
The percentage of migrants in Kolkata's population has been declining since the 1950s, though around a third of the population still consists of fresh migrants. Kolkata is gradually attaining a state of saturation.[6]It has also been affected by economic decline resulting from industrial sickness. In 2005, West Bengal headed the list of states with sick units.[5]The overall economic scenario is highlighted by the growing number of pavement dwellers. Kolkata had 48,802 pavement dwellers in 1971 and 55,571 in 1985, according to Census and/or KMDA figures. Around two thirds are from West Bengal and the rest from outside the state.[6]
While the economy of Kolkata has been sliding backwards in many respects, there has been remarkable expansion in certain areas – real estate, information technology and retail trade. Big shopping centres have come up, and along with it there has been a large increase in small shops and pavement stalls.[5][7]
Political Actions
With hawkers occupying large portions of the pavements, in the sixties the state government, then controlled by the Congress Party, launched Operation Hawker and tried to remove hawkers from the streets of Kolkata. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), then in the opposition, organised the hawkers in active protest. Soon thereafter, the Congress Party was out of power in the state. Later, when the CPI(M) was firmly in saddle as leader of the Left Front for around two decades, it launched Operation Sunshine in 1996. Officers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, cadres of the CPI(M) along with police battalions demolished the side walk stalls of thousands of hawkers. Such stalls had lined the city's thoroughfares for nearly three decades. This time the hawkers were mobilised by opposition leaders such as Mamata Banerjee but the Left Front remained firm in its conviction to remove hawkers.[8]However, in the face of protests, the municipal administration and the police allowed the hawkers to reoccupy gradually the pavements of streets from which they had been cleared. The Calcutta Hawker Sangram Committee, a union of more than 32 local hawkers' associations formed in the beforemath of Operation Sunshine, took the leadership to reclaim the footpaths [Bandyopadhyay Ritajyoti (2009): Archiving from Below: The Case of the Mobilised Hawkers in Calcutta, Sociological Research Online, Volume 14, Issue 5,<http://www.socresonline.org.uk/14/5/7.html>.See also, Bandyopadhyay Ritajyoti (2009): Hawkers' Movement in Kolkata, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No.17]. The situation has come to such a pass that according to a deputy commissioner of Kolkata Police, 80 per cent of Kolkata's pavements are encroached by hawkers and illegal settlers. Pedestrians are forced to use the roads because there is hardly any space on the pavements for walking, and once people are getting used to walking on the streets, they continue to do so even if the side walks are vacant.[2]Some reports suggest that the hawkers have made a comeback on the streets of Kolkata during the period 2000-2005 whenTrinamool Congress was in power in Kolkata Corporation.[9] Bandyopadhyay (2009)has recently argued that the Hawker Sangram Committee has subsequently come to occupy a central position in the governance of the realm of pavement-hawking through the creation and maintenance of an archival database that articulates the entrepreneurial capacity of the 'poor hawker' and his ability to deliver goods and services at low-cost. The significance of the Hawker Sangram Committee's archive is that, it enables the organisation to form a critique of the exclusionary discourses on the hawker, mostly propagated by a powerful combination of a few citizens' associations, the judiciary and the press. The paper also documents how the successful mobilisation of a population group like the hawkers is marked by the virtual destruction of a pre-existing archive on the other group of 'encroachers' of the pavement space, the pavement dwellers.
[edit]Legal action
With the politicians dilly-dallying, the matter rolled on to the courts as public interest litigation. In 1996, Kolkata High Court asked the state government to submit a detailed report on pavement encroachment. In 1998, another case demanding rehabilitation of hawkers was moved in the court. In 2003, the high court asked the state government to state its stand on hawkers. In 2005, the state government informed the high court that a uniform policy on rehabilitation of hawkers was underway. In 2007, the high court found that its 1996 order was not implemented.[10]
Commenting on a petition filed by environmentalist Subhas Dutta in 2004, the division bench of Chief Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and Soumitra Sen observed in 2006, that the hawker menace was growing like cancer. It was impossible for people to walk on the roads, forget about footpaths.[11]
The advocate general informed the high court that the state government had drawn out a plan regarding the hawkers. The highlights of the plan were earmarking of hawker free zone, creating some hawking zones, setting time limits for hawking, banning erection of permanent structures, keeping two thirds of pavement free of hawkers, replacing polythene sheets with colourful umbrellas, removing of hawkers from 50 yards (46 m) of crossings, and issuing licences to existing hawkers only.[12]
[edit]Municipal Corporation
KMC had conducted Operation Sunshine in 1996 to remove hawkers from Gariahat and Shyambazar. Following the hawker removal drive, the KMC commissioner, Asim Barman, had issued a notification imposing certain restrictions on the movement of hawkers on 21 streets in the city.[13]
Bikash Bhattacharya, Mayor of Kolkata, has said that hawkers would be allowed to stay on all pavements across the city and they would be allowed to occupy a third of the pavements along the streets but they would not be allowed to occupy space within a 50-metre radius of road crossings or build any structures.[9]
According to the Hawker Sangram Committee, "Hawkers are exploited by the agents of trade union leaders, politicians, police, civic councillors. They have to pay to earn their bread." The hawkers pay Rs. 266 crores as bribe. This is around 3 per cent of the business. The Committee says, "We are willing to pay rent or some other form of tax to the civic body if we get the right to conduct business. Identity cards will protect us from extortion by multiple agencies," [1]
There are several unions or associations of hawkers, such as Calcutta Hawkers' Men Union and Bengal Hawkers Association.
[edit]References
- ^ a b Ganguly, Deepankar. "Hawkers stay as Rs. 265 crore talks". The Telegraph, 30 November 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ a b "Oh Kolkata! Pavements are for pedestrians". A Better Kolkata. The Statesman, 10 June 2002. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ a b Chakraborty, Satyesh C., The Growth of Calcutta in the Twentieth Century, in Calcutta:The Living City, Vol II, Edited by Chaudhuri, Sukanta, 1990/2005, Page 7, Table 2, ISBN 019 563697 X
- ^ Nilanjana Chatterjee, The East Bengal Refugees, A lesson in Survival, in Calcutta:The Living City, Vol II, p. 70.
- ^ a b c Datta, Bhabatosh, The Economy of Calcutta, Today and Tomorrow, in Calcutta:The Living City, Vol II, pp. 96-104.
- ^ a b Ghosh, Ambikaprasad, The Demography of Calcutta, in Calcutta:The Living City, Vol II, p. 51, 57.
- ^ "'Bengal fifth most attractive destination'". The Hindu Business Line, 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ Edited by Ananya Roy, and Nezar Alsayyad. "Urban Informality". 6. The Gentleman's City. Business and Economics. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b Ganguly, Deepankar. "So long sunshine, hello hawkers". The Telegraph, 23 February 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ "Glare on hawkers and car chaos - Court seeks status report with time frame for pavements and traffic flow". The Telegraph, 13 March 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ "Free roads or court trouble - Hawkers like cancer, says chief justice". The Telegraph, 20 May 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ "A roadmap for hawkers off roads". The Telegraph, 22 March 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ "State to regulate hawker movement in Kolkata". The Statesman, 28 July 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
| ||
Bandyopadhyay Ritajyoti (2009): Archiving from Below: The Case of the Mobilised Hawkers in Calcutta, Sociological Research Online, Volume 14, Issue 5, <http://www.socresonline.org.uk/14/5/7.html>.
Bandyopadhyay Ritajyoti (2009): Hawkers' Movement in Kolkata, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No.17.-
What exactly is the Unique ID project? - CIOL News Reports
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On the eviction of slums in Kolkata: A leaflet
Click here to read leaflet [PDF, Bengali] »
Feb 15 2010. From the Brihottoro Kolkata Khalpar Basti Uchhed Pratirodh Committee(Greater Kolkata Slum Eviction Resistance Committee), an organisation resisting the eviction of slums in Kolkata.
Why this eviction? And why this declaration of war?
Friend,
Elaborate actions are afoot in various parts of Kolkata to evict slums, for the beautification of roads and canals, and for the "improvement" of the environment. The slum-dwellers lining Tipi, Manikhal, Chariyal and other canals, as well as Narkel Bagan and Hatgachhiya, face the prospect of being displaced from homes that are four decades old. The Kachharipara slum, Hosenpur Purbapara slum, and a number of other places face the same fate.
To put a human face on this eviction, a portion of the displaced are being offered single rooms in the outskirts of the city. Drinking water, access to schools and hospitals, and the various other services a citizen needs are severely limited at these locations. The rooms remind you of gas chambers.
The rest are told that they are illegal occupants. They have no rights.
The reality is that "development" is another word for opening up the city for capital investment, ultimately to transform it in accordance to the needs of wealthy people. It is to make room for them that the government and administration have drawn up a program of eviction, with money from the Asian Development Bank. The Kolkata Environment Improvement Project (KEIP) and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Rural Mission (JNNURM) are schemes that have been started with the aim of driving out poor working class people from the heart of Kolkata.
Since the 1990's, Kolkata has been transforming, with big flyovers, wide streets, Multiplex shopping malls, apartment complexes, clubs, INOX, Swabhumi, Nolbon, Water Park, Nicco Park, and various other entertainment centers cropping up. There is no place there for the working class of the city - the hawker, rikshaw driver, small trader, small shopowner, slum-dweller, cleaner, and others.
These people have been removed from their original places in the city and put into places like Nonadanga, Kasba, Kalagachhiya, ShampamirjaNagar. There they remain, bound by the State's legal bindings, much like the open jails of Lalgola in Murshidabad.
They have lived in Kolkata for a long time. Their labour has been used by the wealthy, their votes have been obtained by political parties of all hues. And yet, in today's scheme of development, they have no place. They have been evicted from the dwellings, and have lost their livelihood and way of life.
Let us protest these development policies of the Central and State governments, let us speak out against the demolition of slums in any part of the city. Let us stand beside fellow citizens as they fight for the right to have a home to live in.
************
Invisible City: A documentary on the eviction of Ballygunj Rail Colony dwellers in Kolkata
With English subtitles
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