Balancing Development And Conservation: The Legal Dilemmas Of The East Kolkata Wetlands
- IJLLR Journal
- May 22
- 2 min read
Alexandria Minakshi Devi Godala, University of Leeds
ABSTRACT
The East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), located on the eastern fringes of Kolkata city, bordering the Salt Lake township on the one hand and the new township at Rajarhat on the other, forms one of the largest assemblages of sewage-fed fish ponds. This research examines the different legal dilemmas related to the East Calcutta Wetlands. The unique feature of the EKW is sewage treatment through pisciculture. West Bengal's The East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act 2006 represents an essential landmark for establishing an appropriate institutional regime for managing the Wetlands. Researchers opine that East Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority is dominated by upper-caste politicians and bureaucrats engendering inequity, and the real estate-politician lobby continues to creep into wetlands areas through this skewed power structure. Since 1950, vast acres of the wetland area have been encroached upon with the ever- increasing population, industrialisation, modernisation, and need for residential spaces. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area generates roughly 910 million litres of sewage daily, and urbanisation increased the flow of untreated sewage, solid waste, and pollutants into the wetlands. These pollutants degrade water quality and reduce the wetlands' capacity to act as a natural purifier for the city. Thus, the EKW is at risk of losing its essential ecological functions. The widely cited judgement of Public v State of West Bengal halted the State's reclamation of the East Kolkata Wetland. The State has led urbanisation in the salt lake, and the landowners of the East Kolkata Wetlands also aspire for speculative growth in their area. Conservation should address sociological issues. The present- day Government should strive to solve the dilemmas of the East Kolkata Wetlands and balance development and conservation.
