Dead end

West Bengal moves to discontinue Kolkata’s trams despite calls to revive the city’s oldest and cleanest mode of transport

- JAYANTA BASU

THOUGH NOT official yet, the iconic trams of Kolkata may soon end their journey after running for more than 150 years. On September 23, West Bengal’s transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty told mediapersons that the government plans to discontinue the tram system, retaining only one small loop from the Esplanade to Maidan localities of the city that would serve as a heritage route, passing sites such as the Victoria Memorial.

Chakraborty said that the government has taken the decision in view of the increasing congestion of the city’s narrow roads caused by the slow-moving trams. However, analysts say that elimination of the cleanest public transportation system will only do more harm than good for the city, which is battling severe air pollution and congestion.

“It is ironic that at a time when most cities worldwide are ramping up their electric transport infrastru- cture, Kolkata is winding up one of the world’s oldest electric public tra- nsportation system,” says Mahadeb Shi of Calcutta Tram Users Association (ctua), a citizens’ group.

Some also allege that the move is an attempt by the state government to usurp the sprawling land available with the eight tram depots. “The depots are located at the heart of the city. Leasing out the land for real estate and commercial purposes will fetch hundreds of crores of rupees for the cash-starved state government,” alleges Naba Datta, secretary of environmental platform Sabuj Mancha. Already, parts of depots have been leased out to private entities to set up electrical grids or constructing commercial buildings, analysts tell Down To Earth (dte).

At the end of September, the government also submitted to the Calcutta High Court an affidavit on its plan to discontinue tramways.