Hooghly River Ghats in Kolkata: Filthy Conditions, Lack of Changing Rooms, and Construction Violations

A team of experts who examined the conditions on Tuesday reported that common issues along the riverbank in Kolkata include the discharge of untreated sewage into the Hooghly, solid waste overflowing from the ghats into the river, and the crumbling state of some of the ghats.

Many people use the ghats for bathing every day, but the majority lack changing rooms.

The National Green Tribunal declared in a recent ruling that the Hooghly's "filthy" ghats "present an unspeakably repulsive picture."

"There is a conflict of coordination between the various municipalities and authorities in the matter of implementation of scheme and program for cleaning and maintenance of the Ganga ghats," according to the tribunal's October 9 order.

Years of experience working on the Hooghly ghats have given Gautam Chakraborti the knowledge to say that, in spite of government directives, domestic sewage and industrial effluents are still being dumped into the river at various locations.

According to Chakraborti, a former heritage advisor for Kolkata Port Trust—now known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust—“even carcasses are thrown into the river."

Construction on both sides of the river is forbidden by law to occur within 45 meters of the high tide line. There are numerous instances where this rule has been broken if one strolls along the riverbank. If the state government wishes to safeguard the river, it must implement this regulation, he stated.

Mayor Firhad Hakim opened a tour of the Hooghly on Tuesday for members of the Kolkata Rotary Club, who have identified twelve ghats for renovation. Additionally, the purpose of the ride was to address some long-standing issues the ghats have been having.

The purpose of the Hooghly ride was to identify and demonstrate the issues to a few foreign Rotarians and enlist their assistance in finding a solution.

Hakim acknowledged that the river's banks are being contaminated by factories. "The river bank has been encroached upon. People need to keep in mind that if we protect the river, our country will be saved," he stated.

In addition, he suggested building a sizable plantation along the Hooghly, which experts claimed could stop the riverbank from eroding.

Twelve ghats have been identified for immediate work, including three ghats in Howrah and Bally, Goenka Ghat, Mullick Ghat, Bhangra Chora Ghat, and Chhote Lal Ki Ghat in Kolkata; and Ratan Babu Ghat in Baranagar.

Heading the Clean Ganga project is Rotarian Saumen Ray. "Some of the measures we have planned are putting up floating barriers along the ghats that would prevent solid waste from entering the river, creating points where the waste should be dumped and making plans to stop the discharge of untreated sewage into the river."

The petition described how the river was contaminated by solid and liquid waste produced in the ghats, according to Paushali Banerjee, the attorney who represented the applicant whose petition resulted in the NGT's ruling. "Waste management is almost nonexistent along many of the ghats."

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.