KMC survey finds at least 200 open chulhas around Victoria
Times of India | 8 March 2024
Kolkata: A preliminary mapping of vendors in the 28 square km around Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH) by Kolkata Municipal Corporation revealed 192 vendors using solid biomass or fossil fuel for cooking food or making tea. The mapping is done in response to the order of the Calcutta High Court. However, KMC in its affidavit asked for permission for a more intensive survey to assess the magnitude of the problem to work out sustainable solutions.
The Calcutta High Court division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Shampa Sarkar ordered the KMC to submit an affidavit on the vendors using fossil fuel or biomass contributing to air pollution, in response to the petition by green crusader Subhas Datta, regarding the declining air quality affecting the iconic VMH.
The preliminary mapping entailed 10 roads around VMH and found 63 tea stalls, 91 fast food stalls, and 38 other food vendors that use kerosene, coal, or wood as the fuel and thus contribute to air pollution of the city which in turn is graying the city’s most iconic white edifice, the Victoria Memorial Hall.
The roads where food vendors were mapped included Sadananda Road, Harish Mukherjee Road, Dacres Lane, Dharmatala bus stand, Camac Street, Park Street, Babughat, and Dalhousie Square. The report revealed that roadside eateries and some stalls over footpaths and some hotels are mostly using fossil fuels like coal, wood, and kerosene oil for carrying out cooking in the open air.
However, KMC has sought permission for a more elaborate study in the 28 square km around VMH by the chief valuer and surveyor’s department of KMC for an area starting from Hare Street in the north, Rash Behari Avenue in the south, east bank of the Hooghly river in the west, and Rifle Range Road in the east. It is a thickly populated zone consisting of business centres, roads and roadside eateries.
For such an extensive survey, KMC in its affidavit claimed that agencies need to be engaged and tender needs to be floated by KMC for the purpose. KMC has sought six months from the issue of work order to the selected bidder to complete the work.
The roads chosen for the survey are Hare Street, N S Road, Dalhousie Square, Lalbazar Street, B B Ganguly Street, AJC Bose Road, CIT Road, Darga Road, Dr Biresh Guha Street, Broad Street, Gariahat Road, Rash Behari Avenue, Chetla Central Road, Raja Santosh Road, Remount Road, Bhukailash Road, Garden Reach Road, Kidderpore Dock, Andaman Dock, and east bank of the Hooghly.