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Megacities of Joy: ACase Study of Calcutta'sEnvironmental Problems inthe Age of GlobalisationSagarika DuttPublished online: 09 Jun 2010.

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Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 54, No. 3, 2000

Megacities of Joy:1 A Case Study of Calcutta’sEnvironmental Problems in the Age of Globalisation

SAGARIKA DUTT

(Department of International Relations, The Nottingham Trent University)

Cities are becoming key actors in the national and global society and this is also affectingtheir own development. They are often seen as ‘engines of growth’ that add value to ruralproducts, provide services to regional markets and attract manufacturing and servicesinvestments. They compete with each other for investments, budget resources and foreigncapital. Cities are also places where multinational corporations concentrate their activities andthey are the main scene of global standardisation of consumption and cultures. Higher levelsof urbanisation are associated with higher GNP per capita levels, higher levels of educationand skill and higher female participation rates. The World Bank has estimated that citiesproduce over 50 per cent of the national GDP in developing countries and that this will riseto between 65 and 80 per cent by 2000. As a result, urban growth is sometimes regarded asvital for economic growth and social development (Burgess et al. 1997b:19). Massey et al.argue that ‘at the turn of this millennium, the problems and possibilities which cities embodyand express are among the most important issues facing the planet’. They also point out that‘for the � rst time in history more than half of humanity will be living not just in cities butin mega-cities’ (Massey et al. 1999:1).

The 10 largest cities in the world include two from India: Calcutta and Mumbai(Bombay) which, it is estimated, will have populations of over 15 million by now. In otherwords, they are megacities, de� ned as having populations of at least 10 million projected forthe year 2000 (Simon 1995:143; Massey et al. 1999). According to these estimates, Calcuttawill be ranked the sixth largest city in the world, after Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Tokyo,Shanghai and New York (Manorama Yearbook 1994:317).2 Both Mumbai and Calcutta aremajor commercial, industrial and port centres in India and South Asia.

Many large cities ‘articulate regional, national, and international economies into a globaleconomy. They serve as the organising nodes of a global economic system’ (Friedmann1995). Kasarda and Parnell comment that ‘for economic development, megacities and otherlarge urban places serve as highly ef� cient centres of specialised and essential economicactivities and as primary contributors to the national economy’ (Kasarda and Parnell1993:xi). However, cities in many developing countries such as India and China are growingat an alarming rate and so are their environmental problems. This is not simply a local issue,as Michael Nicholson argues (Nicholson 1998:157),3 but a global one which merits theattention of the international community. Not only do carbon dioxide emissions in these cities

1 The City of Joy is the title of a novel written by Dominique Lapierre about Calcutta (Lapierre 1985).2 Also see United Nations Home Page, Megacity, available at: , URL:http://geocities.com/ , atlas/urb/

megacity.html . .3 Nicholson distinguishes between global, national and local problems of pollution. He writes that

‘particular cities may suffer and their sufferings may be assuaged by some form of local collectiveaction’.

ISSN 1035-7718 print/ISSN 1465-332X online/00/030373-16 Ó 2000 Australian Institute of Internationa l Affairs

DOI: 10.1080/000499100 20012633

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contribute to global warming4 [India and China are two developing countries that couldsurpass the US as leading greenhouse gas polluters next century; see Cormier (1998)], butthe poverty and the appalling conditions in which some of their citizens live are quiteunacceptable and a violation of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightswhich says that ‘everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health andwell-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical careand necessary social services’ (United Nations 1993:8). The poverty in Calcutta’s slumsinspired writer and social worker, Dominique Lapierre, to write a novel based on the livesof the people living in them. The City of Joy is, according to Lapierre, ‘a story about howpeople learn, despite incredibly dif� cult odds, to survive, to share, and to love’ (Lapierre1985). The novel has a message for urban planners: urban management must be underpinnedby human rights values, ‘otherwise the management process becomes dominated by thesearch for ef� ciency rather than equity and its objective becomes one of the role of the cityin sustained growth and not sustainable urbanisation’ (Drakakis-Smith 1997:812–3).

This paper examines the effects that the pressures to liberalise the Indian economy andalso, at the same time, respond to UN-sponsored conferences such as UNCED (1992)5 havehad on government policies in India regarding urban environmental problems, with specialreference to Calcutta. The paper concludes that although national governments have the keyrole in linking local and global sustainability, globalisation has eroded the power of the stateto protect its citizens from market forces (Burchill 1996:28–66). Moreover, local govern-ments in developing countries often lack the competence, capacity and � nancial resources toachieve their goals. Therefore, all stakeholders have to play a role, as not doing anythingwould be irresponsible and seriously detrimental to human welfare (Mitlin and Satterthwaite1997:152–3).

Global trends affecting the city and the state

The world we live in today is rapidly undergoing transformation from four fundamentalprocesses or trends: the continued rapid urbanisation of the world’s population; the globali-sation of economic, social, cultural and political activities; the intensi� cation and globalisa-tion of an ‘environmental crisis’; and the changing relationship of the state to civil society(Burgess et al. 1997a:3).

According to the World Bank, between 1950 and 1990 the urban population ofdeveloping countries increased fourfold from 300 million to 1.3 billion. By the year 2010,over 51 per cent of the world’s population will be urbanised, according to UN estimates. Thisis partly due to the natural growth of the populations of cities and partly to migration bothinternal and international (Burgess et al. 1997a:4; Drakakis-Smith 1987:29). Policies to limitlarge city growth by restricting migration or redirecting population and industry to smallerplaces have been ineffective. The focus is therefore shifting to managing rapid urban growthrather than stemming it (Kasarda and Parnell 1993:x–xi). This trend not only presents urbanplanners with a challenge but is increasingly recognised as being a central issue in the generaldevelopment process.

4 Mitlin and Satterthwaite argue that it is important to clarify that it is not the cities that are responsiblefor most resource use, waste, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions but particular commercial andindustrial enterprises and middle and upper income groups with high-consumption lifestyles. They alsoargue that the effects of global warming will be felt by cities. See Mitlin and Satterthwaite (1997).

5 The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro in June1992. Its main aim was to show the way to a new global strategy for reconciling development needswith environmental protection. See ‘Climate change and the UNCED Earth Summit’, availableat: , URL: http://www.unep.ch/iucc/fs207.html . .

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Cities in newly industrialising countries are becoming more and more aware of thephenomenon of globalisation and the opportunities it has to offer. Globalisation may bede� ned as ‘a social process in which the constraints of geography on social and culturalarrangements recede and in which people become increasingly aware that they are receding’(Waters 1995:3). The main area of globalisation is the international economic system or worldeconomy, which is the totality of global production, consumption, and exchange activitiesundertaken within national economies and/or the world market. Economic growth has becomemore interdependent internationally thanks to the growth of world trade and the increasingrole and transformation of capital and money markets because of the global diffusion of newtechnology and the global consequences of environmental change (Simai 1997:50). However,while globalisation has opened up national economies, it has reduced the ability of the stateto control its economic affairs independently and has diminished the ef� cacy of nationalmacroeconomic policies (Burgess et al. 1997a:7). This could mean that environmental, healthand safety legislation can no longer be determined unilaterally. This raises the issue of theresponsibilities of transnational corporations which will be brie� y discussed later.

In a globalised world, environmental problems do not recognise state/national borders andtherefore there is a need for global environmental governance. ‘[E]fforts at global environ-mental rescue cut across all existing boundaries of the subnational, the national, and theinternational. At the Rio “Earth Summit” in 1992 more heads of state gathered for oneinternational congress than ever before’ (Deudney 1996:129). The view that human beingscan dominate nature is being undermined by the growing evidence that ‘the undesired effectsof human interaction with the environment are spinning out of control’ and leading to globalwarming, ozone depletion, resource depletion etc. (Burgess et al. 1997a:8). The RioDeclaration, adopted at the close of the conference, maintained that:

the right to developmen t must be ful� lled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmenta l needsof present and future generations; andin order to achieve sustainable development , environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of thedevelopmenta l process and cannot be considered in isolation from it (Imber 1996:139) .

Agenda 21, which was the principal outcome of the Rio Conference, is an action plan forthe 1990s and the twenty-� rst century and elaborates strategies and integrated programmeasures to halt and reverse the effects of environmental degradation and to promoteenvironmentally sound and sustainable development in all countries. It stresses the import-ance of local authorities as the level of governance closest to the people. They play a vitalrole in educating and mobilising the public for sustainable development. Each local authorityshould enter into a dialogue with its citizens, local organisations and private enterprises andadopt a local community environmental and developmental action plan (a local Agenda 21)particularly suited to local problems, opportunities and values (United Nations 1992:100).6

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), an internationalassociation of municipalities, stresses that local authorities play a decisive role in solving theworld’s environmental problems as they are the � rst to confront the most urgent of theseproblems—waste disposal and the pollution of air and water. The ICLEI has launched aninternational campaign, Cities for Climate Protection, to help governments address globalwarming through appropriate municipal energy policies.7

6 Also see the report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, chapter 28,Local Authorities’ Initiatives in support of Agenda 21, available at: , URL:gopher://gopher.un.org:70/00/conf/unced/English/a21 28.txt . .

7 Cities for Climate Protection Home Page, available at: , URL:http://www.iclei.org/co2/ . . The ICLEIis an association of local governments dedicated to the prevention and solution of local, regional andglobal environmental problems through local action. It was launched in 1990 as the international

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The fourth global trend is the changing relationship of the state and civil society. Thepower of the nation-state is eroding in another sense. Power is � owing downwards tosubnational organisations: local and regional authorities, communities, non-governmentorganisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations. For example, the 74th amend-ment to the Indian constitution gives more powers to local governments and municipalities.It is being increasingly recognised that the nation-state is not the main bases of identities.Collective identities are shaped by many things including ethnicity, religion, gender and placeof residence. Communities are constituted by a ‘here-feeling’ derived from the sharedhabitation of a place, as well as by a ‘we-feeling’ of group solidarity and attributes sharedin common (Deudney 1996:130). This trend may lead to the expansion of democracy andmore powers of self-determination. On the other hand it could lead to the fragmentation ofa society, intolerance and rivalry between groups and communal strife and con� ict. Povertyand the growing inequalities between the rich and the poor in urban areas can make mattersworse and lead to more con� ict if nothing is done to deal with these problems.

Cities, especially in developing countries, are being affected by all these trends andprocesses. The dominant development paradigm guiding urban planners, architects andgovernments that are trying to deal with the problems and challenges is neoliberalism whichhas put the question of the relationship between cities, the state and the market at the top ofits agenda (Burgess et al. 1997a:3).

Urban environmental problems in India

Like several other developing countries, India is urbanising rapidly. In the � rst 40 years ofthe twentieth century, the proportion of urban population was less than 12 per cent. Sincethen, the rate has steadily increased from 17.29 per cent in 1951 to 25.72 per cent in 1991.In absolute numbers, India’s urban population of about 217 million is one of the largest inthe world. The pace of urban growth has also been high during 1951–91 and the number oftowns has increased from about 3000 in 1951 to 4689 in 1993. At the beginning of thecentury, India had only one city with a population of more than one million; now there are23 such cities. Increase in urban population in India is due to both natural growth andmigration. In the country as a whole, the economic shift from rural to the urban sector hasbecome an important and steadily growing phenomenon. The contribution of the urban sectorto the Indian economy rose to 47 per cent in 1980–81 as compared to 20 per cent in 1950–51.By the end of the century, it was expected to be 60 per cent (Sivaramakrishnan 1993:1–3).

Urban environmental issues in India include the following: supply of drinking water;sanitation; solid waste disposal; industrial pollution; and air pollution. In many urban areassources of drinking water are getting depleted and polluted. Access to a water supply isespecially scarce for the urban poor. According to one estimate, only 30– 40 per cent of theurban poor have access to a safe water supply. About three-quarters of the urban populationin the country are without adequate and sanitary means of excreta disposal. While theInternational Water Supply and Sanitation Decade has made some progress in the case ofwater supplies, with respect to sanitation, the progress has been almost nil. Another problemis that even by developing-country standards, the generation of garbage in Indian cities isincreasing. Per capita solid waste generated is about 350– 400g and in large cities it exceeds

Footnote 7 continued

environmental agency for local governments under the sponsorship of UNEP, the International Unionof Local Authorities and the Center for Innovative Diplomacy. It has of� cial consultative status withthe United Nations through which it advocates the interests of local government before internationalbodies. ICLEI’s mission is to build and support a worldwide movement of local governments to achievetangible improvements in global environmental conditions through the cumulative impact of localactions.

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500. Bombay generates about 3200 tonnes of garbage daily of which nearly 96 per cent iscollected. Calcutta’s output is about 1000 tonnes less but because of the time lag betweenstreet collection and disposal, the quantity may seem to be more. It is encouraging to note,however, that the central government will soon begin ‘a national technology mission for solidwaste management’. The decision follows recommendations from an eight-member com-mittee formed by the Supreme Court to study solid waste disposal systems in Class I Indiancities (The Statesman, 15 August 1999b:7).

Industries in India cause air, river water and land pollution (Halarnkar 1997:102–7). Astudy of small-scale industry in Bombay indicates that many of them are quite careless withthe wastes they generate. Toxic and hazardous wastes are often discharged into the municipaldrains or dumped in municipal garbage heaps. They are also thrown into low-lying areas,resulting in leaching and contamination. Small industries, because of their low output andpoor technologies, may be generating more pollution per unit of output as compared to largeindustries. The Bhopal disaster emphasised the vulnerability of urban areas to environmentalproblems. More than 3000 people were killed when the highly toxic methyl iso cyanate(MIC) manufactured and stored in the Union Carbide Chemical Plant in Bhopal escaped intothe atmosphere. Thousands have died since then of gas-related diseases or are suffering froma variety of gas-related ailments according to the International Medical Commission onBhopal (The Statesman, 30 August 1999:5). After this tragedy, the awareness of hazardousindustries and substances increased considerably. However, a report prepared by the Schoolof Environmental Studies, Calcutta, points out that factories in densely populated areascontinue to use toxic chemicals in violation of the law and warns that Calcutta could turn intoa gas chamber (Dhar 1998:1). Finally, air pollution is also caused by the growing number ofautomobiles in India’s cities. India’s metropolitan vehicle population has roughly tripledsince 1990. In 23 Indian cities, auto exhausts and industrial emissions dangerously crosslimits. A report published by the World Bank reveals that more than 40 000 Indians dieprematurely every year as a result of air pollution (Halarnkar and Menon 1996:38– 47).

The range of environmental problems experienced by Third World cities has recentlybeen referred to as the ‘Brown Agenda’ which means an urban rather than a rural (green)focus. It consists of two distinct components. The � rst of these is associated with traditionalenvironmental health issues, including the limited availability of land suitable for low-incomegroups and the lack of acceptable shelter and services to prevent the transmission ofpathogens in the environment (Williams 1997:17–26).

The second component of the Brown Agenda comprises the problems caused by rapidindustrialisation and include toxic/hazardous wastes, water and air pollution, noise pollutionand industrial accidents. However, there is often an overlap between the two sets of problemsand many cities are having to deal with more advanced pollution issues without having foundeffective solutions for ‘traditional’ pollution and health problems. Moreover, rapid urbanpopulation growth also adversely affects the local capacity to provide needed environmentalinfrastructure and services. There is also often insuf� cient will and inadequate institutionalcapacity for environmental management. Williams points out that signi� cant issues includeinadequate land-use control or inappropriate land-tenure systems coupled with excessiveregulation of land markets, and the under-pricing of urban services, resulting in theirinef� cient and inequitable distribution (Williams 1997).

On the basis of population projections and without effective and appropriate interven-tions, it is possible to envisage a situation whereby the environmental problems in ThirdWorld cities will simultaneously widen and deepen. Even with interventions, the task facingplanners and policy makers will be daunting (Williams 1997).

However, it is the issue of economic liberalisation that has highlighted the environmentalproblems of Indian cities. Neoliberal approaches emphasise the key role of markets over

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non-market/government regulation. Some neoliberals put a value on the economic functionsof the environment. Environmental problems are considered to be essentially economicproblems. They are due to the failure of market systems to allocate resources ef� ciently.According to neoliberals everything can be given a market value and environmentalimprovements can be seen as equivalent to economic improvements. A neoliberal interpret-ation of the Brundtland report is that environment and economics should be mergedin decision-making and market incentives employed. Economic methods such as the‘polluter pays’ principle and ‘green’ taxes should be used to encourage ‘good environmentalpractice’. In order to deal with an international environmental issue like global warming andreduce the impact of ‘greenhouse gases’ the neoliberals recommend energy ef� ciency (Smith1992).

However, the neoliberals have been criticised by the environmentalists and structuralists.Some environmentalists do not believe that economic growth and environmental conservationare mutually compatible. Others argue that we cannot put a realistic value on the environmentand on environmental effects. Some have also argued that if sustainability is to be acceptedthen the poor must be protected and the rich will have to make sacri� ces. The structuralists,on the other hand, stress the theme of inequality between North and South. They argue thatneoliberal approaches may work for the industrially advanced countries, but it is wholly aperspective from the North. The core of the structuralist critique includes the issue of equitywhich Redclift sees as ‘the driving force behind indiscriminate resource degradation indeveloping countries’,8 but such considerations are not high on the neoliberal agenda oflooking primarily at total economic value.

Environmental issues are now high on the international political agenda. This hasimplications for development and industrialisation throughout the world, and particularly inthe less developed world. Increasing awareness and concern about global warming, defores-tation and pollution of the oceans is affecting attitudes to economic growth and developmentat a local, national and international level. However, whose responsibility is it to deal withthese problems? The problem is confounded by the fact that the less developed countries andthe industrialised countries often have different perceptions of the issue (Controversy atClimate Conference, 1998).

Developing-country governments have very few options open to them in trying to achievesustainable industrial development without substantial assistance from the internationalcommunity, in � nancial, technical and institutional terms. The fastest growing industries inthe developing world are those which are pollution-intensive and based on exploiting naturalresources. Moreover, highly polluting and hazardous industries like chemicals, resourceextraction and heavy manufacturing, are key industries in which global � rms tend to invest.This pattern of foreign investment in highly polluting industries has affected both developedand developing countries, but the latter appear to be receiving a growing share of suchinvestment due to weaker environmental regulations and/or lack of enforcement (Clapp1998). New clean production technologies may help. However, many developing countriesdo not possess either the technical or the institutional capacity for making the most ofimported or new technologies or the capital to start new ‘clean’ industries. Some burden ofresponsibility certainly rests with the governments of developing countries to prevent orremedy environmental damage. However, ‘a far greater burden resides with the governmentsof the richest nations and with the transnational corporations’ which will have to take a leadin safeguarding the environment worldwide while supporting development in the ThirdWorld (Smith 1992:292–3).

8 Redclift (1987), as cited in Smith (1992:285) .

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Provincial response to the national policy of economic liberalisation

West Bengal is one of the major industrial states in India. It has an area of 88 752 squarekm and a population of 68.1 million. In 1994, the Government of West Bengal (GOWB)issued a Policy Statement on Industrial Development in response to the national policy ofeconomic liberalisation initiated in 1991. It focuses on stimulating growth through industrialmodernisation and improving incentives for investment (Ganguly 1994). To invite foreigninvestment, in recent years, delegations from West Bengal have visited China, Japan,Malaysia and other countries of South East Asia and also some countries of Europe. Anumber of delegations from various countries have also visited West Bengal to assess theindustrial environment in various sectors. The state government claims that West Bengaloffers excellent investment opportunities as the resource-rich state is well connected by land,air and sea routes to major global cities, to the great Paci� c Rim and to such South Asianmegapolises as Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul.

In his budget statement delivered on 19 March 1999, the Finance Minister, Dr AsimDasgupta, pointed out that the scenario for industrial investment is becoming increasinglypositive in West Bengal. During the period 1991–98 a total number of 1843 industrialprojects involving investment of Rs. 48 626 crores (1 crore is equal to 10 million) gotapproval from the state government. He also pointed out that the rate of growth of industrialproduction in the state of West Bengal had increased from 4.3 per cent in 1993–94 to nearly9.2 per cent in 1996–97, which was in fact higher than the all-India rate of growth ofindustrial production of 8.4 per cent in that year. In the following year, 1997–98, while theall-India rate of growth of industrial production fell to 3.6 per cent, the rate of industrialproduction in West Bengal remained higher at 5.4 per cent (GOWB 1999:12–3.) Theprincipal industries are petrochemicals/downstream industries; electronics/IT; iron and steel,metallurgy, engineering; textiles and leather products; food processing, edible oils, aquacul-ture; basic drugs, pharmaceuticals, chemicals; minerals and mining; gems and jewellery;tourism and allied services.

However, the government realises that increasing the pace of industrial development islikely to put increasing pressure on the environment. Consequently it has issued a PolicyStatement on Environmental Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources, the funda-mental objective of which is ‘to reconcile pro-development and pro-environmental goals’.This policy was adopted to ‘ensure that the tempo of development activities is increased andfacilitated by also taking into account the preservation and conservation of environment andnatural resources’ (PSEPCNR, para. 4) (McCluney 1995:3– 4). The adoption of this policy ledto extensive research on Calcutta’s environmental problems in order to make Calcutta ‘abetter place to live, work and invest in’. In other words, to promote Calcutta as an ‘engineof growth’ for West Bengal while at the same time alleviating poverty and raising thestandard of living of the urban poor (in order to promote social justice) and consequentlyimproving Calcutta’s national and international image.

City of Joy: images of Calcutta

The construction of favourable urban images to encourage civic life, tourism, inwardinvestment and in-migration has a long history. However, ‘urban image is of particularimportance in an era of intense competition between cities for business, investment, tourists,conventions, and industry’ (Short 1996:428). This is increasingly being recognised by Indiancities since the liberalisation of the Indian economy started in the early 1990s. Unfortunately,Calcutta, which is the capital of West Bengal, does not have a very good national andinternational image and has even been described as ‘a decaying city’. The state of the city’sslums and the plight of the slum dwellers inspired the French writer and social worker,

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Dominique Lapierre, to write a novel on the city which was made into a � lm butunfortunately did very little to improve Calcutta’s image either at home or abroad.

Of course, the local press in Calcutta does not usually portray a better picture of Calcuttabut its intentions are clear: to highlight the problems of homelessness and poverty in the city.For hundreds of Calcuttans, the stretch under � yovers is the only home they have known.Many of them are migrant workers and illegal immigrants. However, the Department ofSocial Welfare (GOWB) says that they have no rehabilitation package for these people. TheMayor of Calcutta, Prashanta Chatterjee, points out: ‘we have no project with these people.Poverty in India is on the rise. Do you think that the [Calcutta] corporation is supposed toeradicate it?’ (Chakraborty 1998). This is indeed a fundamental question. However, this doesnot mean, that the state government is not doing anything to promote welfare. The FinanceMinister, Asim Dasgupta, acknowledges that to sustain growth in industry and agriculture itis necessary to expand social services. The government has paid particular attention toeducation, health and housing and the needs of the ‘socially and economically backwardscheduled caste and tribe populations’ (GOWB 1998–99).

Of course the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation portrays a much morepositive image of Calcutta than Lapierre by highlighting its main strengths. It emphasises thatthe city continues to be the principal business and � nancial centre in eastern India as wellas the gateway to the entire eastern and north-eastern region of the country. For the potentialinvestor it has many advantages: it is well connected to all major cities in India by roads,railways and air; it has the only major riverine port in India; a modern underground railwaysystem serves the city commuters; the distribution of power in Calcutta has been for manyyears with the private sector, CESC Ltd; all international banks and all Indian � nancialinstitutions have their of� ces in the city; the Calcutta Stock Exchange is the second largestin the country after the National Stock Exchange; the city has nearly 0.57 million basictelephone connections served by digital exchanges. At present there are two mobile cellularoperators serving the Greater Calcutta region; land cost and rent rates are 50–80 per centcheaper compared to Mumbai and Delhi. The city also has good educational facilities withthree universities, two engineering colleges and four medical colleges.

In recent months, Chesterton–Meghraj—a joint venture between UK-based ChestertonInternational and India-based Meghraj Group, internationally known property consultants andprivate bankers—has decided to hard sell Calcutta to multinational corporations as a newdestination in India for ‘software companies’ and an appropriate place for setting up ‘retailstores’. Anuj Puri, Director of Chesterton–Meghraj Property Consultants Pvt. Limited says:‘we are con� dent that multinationals would be interested in setting up software companiesand retail stores in Calcutta given its certain inherent strengths’ (The Statesman, 15 August1999a:7)

Research on Calcutta’s environmental problems: CEMSAP

In late 1994 the British Government Overseas Development Administration (ODA) agreed,at the request of the Government of West Bengal, to provide � nancial and technicalassistance in preparing a Calcutta Environmental Management Strategy and Action Plan(CEMSAP) (McCluney 1995). It was prepared by an international team of British consul-tants, employed by the ODA, and Indian environmental specialists. The objectives ofCEMSAP were ‘to provide a framework for enabling sustained environmental improvementsto reconcile pro-development and pro-environmenta l goals and to develop the means tointroduce stronger environmental decision-making processes at all levels’ (DOE, Governmentof West Bengal 1997:9).

CEMSAP links into a wider agenda. At the national level, CEMSAP is an outcome of

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the policy agenda outlined in the Government of India’s Environmental Action Programme(1993) discussed above. The priorities and approach of CEMSAP are supported by nationalpolicy and planning priorities as identi� ed by the Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment,Department of Urban Development and Ministry of Environment and Forests (DOE,Government of West Bengal 1997:11).

CEMSAP also � ts into an emerging international agenda aimed at supporting sustainabledevelopment through strengthening urban environmental governance. The World Bank,United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organisation have allexpressed an interest in supporting various components of the CEMSAP. United States AIDis supporting a Disaster Management Programme in the Calcutta Metropolitan Area (CMA)which is directly complementary to CEMSAP. The UK ODA (now DFID) has also providedadditional support to CEMSAP initiatives (DOE, Government of West Bengal 1997).

The Environmental Management Strategy (EMS) is aimed at creating the framework toenhance and strengthen the formation and effectiveness of public–private partnerships aimedat making sustained environmental improvements. The private sector and public–privatepartnerships are seen as important mechanisms whereby Calcutta can implement a positiveresponse to the changing economic context of liberalisation and globalisation, and thegrowing environmental concerns. The EMS is founded on the recognition that the de� ningcharacteristics of Calcutta’s environment are poverty and poor resource management.Calcutta’s environmental management strategy must address these issues and thus mustnecessarily go beyond improvements to the physical environment (DoE, Government of WestBengal 1997:11).

The project is both a top-down and bottom-up approach. The CEMSAP report claims thatthe EMS has been developed through 16 months of extensive consultation with, andparticipation of, primary and secondary stakeholders. All the relevant state-level and manyof the important local government (CMA) institutions have contributed to the preparation ofthe EMS as have NGOs and private sector representatives. In its policy statement theGovernment of West Bengal states: ‘The responsibility for environment protection andabatement of pollution is not the duty of one department alone, nor is it the task of theGovernment alone. It is an obligation on all, Government Departments and Agencies, publicauthorities like the Panchayats and the Municipalities, police, industrial units, non-govern-mental organisations and community based organisations’ (McCluney 1995:3). This is inconformity with UNCED’s Agenda 21. However, the fact that the Government of WestBengal sought the help of the British Government would indicate that they had neither thetechnical expertise nor the � nancial resources to undertake the project on their own. Williamsremarks that ‘with the bulk of the Municipal Corporation’s revenue going to pay its wagebill, scarcity of � nancial resources is a fundamental factor underlying the lack of an adequateplanning capacity in Calcutta’ (Williams 1997:23). Moreover, the Indian Government resentsthe fact that ‘the third world countries are being called upon for restoration of environmentalbalance even at the cost of their struggle for emancipation from poverty’ when, as MalayKumar Chattopadhyay (Joint Secretary, Environment Department, GOWB) argues, it is theWestern world in its effort to achieve a better standard of living with more lucrativeconsumer goods that has harnessed nature ruthlessly, which has led to the depletion of theozone layer (Chattopadhyay 1995). Similar views were expressed by the Indian delegation atthe Buenos Aires Conference held in November 1998 (CFRA News Talk 1998). All thisindicates that the environmental problems of developing countries, including those ofmegacities, should be regarded as global issues and not simply local issues.

Environmental problems and risks/impacts in Calcutta

The CEMSAP report has given four technical criteria for de� ning environmental problems—

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impact on health, impact on the poor, productivity losses, stakeholders’ priorities. The EMStechnical analysis was organised around � ve resources or ‘problem clusters’ and aimed atunderstanding their life cycles (i.e. how they are obtained, used, reused and disposed of). The� ve resources/problem clusters are: water/wastes; air and noise (pollution); land use, shelterand built environment; food; economic activities. Problems range from contaminated water(by bacteria or chemicals), inadequate provision of sanitation and sewerage facilities in theCalcutta Metropolitan Area and uncontrolled disposal of hazardous wastes to air and noisepollution caused by automobiles and industries, poor housing and urban services andmalnutrition. The risks and impacts include diseases such as gastroenteritis, respiratoryailments, bronchitis, and malnutrition. The most vulnerable groups are the lower incomegroups. The � ndings of the CEMSAP study are corroborated by an independent study of theCalcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) (1996).

A World Bank Vice-President points out that ‘by far, the heaviest burden of urbanenvironmental problems is on human health, even if some of it affects productivity andeconomic ef� ciency too’ (Serageldin 1998). The key features of the environmental healthpro� le of the Calcutta Metropolitan Area include increasing numbers of cases of gastroentericdiseases, air pollution, indoor and outdoor, which is likely to contribute to high rates ofmorbidity from chronic and acute respiratory diseases. Mortality from chronic respiratorydisorders affects mostly older age groups. There is also contamination of groundwater andthe food chain (e.g. arsenic), which has increased concern about industrial waste and possibleadverse long-term health impacts. Vaccine-preventable environmental diseases (diphtheria,tetanus, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis and measles) still occur. Tuberculosis is a traditionalurban disease caused by poverty (DOE, Government of West Bengal 1997:17–8).

Poverty, decades of stagnation and population growth have led to increasing demands onresources and services. Thirty-� ve per cent of the population in 1990 was living below thepoverty line. Other underlying causes are policy, planning and market failures. For example,rent-seeking behaviour; polluters do not pay (harmful uncontrolled emissions and dischargesare a common feature in the Calcutta Metropolitan Area); users of resources rarely pay thecosts of supplying them; there is a lack of willingness to mobilise resources; rules andregulations regarding polluting activities are often not enforced and compliance is low.Finally development plans for Calcutta have not, in the past, received the political supportnecessary and in the absence of plans, regulation is dif� cult.

However, if nothing is done to deal with the problems they threaten the New EconomicPolicy and the environment (DOE, Government of West Bengal 1997:19– 24). They will leadto population growth, threaten water supply and to air pollution and gridlock. Furtherenvironmental degradation will be a deterrent to investment in key thrust sectors. Among theindustries expected to drive future growth are high-value added ‘sunrise’ industries such assoftware, electronics, tourism, and � nancial and producer services. Initiatives such as theChesterton–Meghraj initiative mentioned above are to be welcomed. However, a majorconstraint blocking development of these sectors is Calcutta’s ‘very negative image world-wide’, of which ‘urban decay’ is viewed as a major contributing factor. High value-addedgrowth sector investors are more likely to be attracted to a clean environment with goodinfrastructure. Inequalities are also likely to grow if nothing is done. The costs of furtherdeterioration are likely to be high and continue to be disproportionately borne by growingnumbers of poor and vulnerable groups (DOE, Government of West Bengal 1997:24–6).

Strengthening urban environmental governance

Higher population densities in cities mean much lower costs per household and per enterprisefor the provision of piped treated water supplies, the collection and disposal of household andhuman wastes, advanced telecommunications, and most forms of health care and education.

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In the absence of effective governance in cities, including the institutional means to ensurethe provision of infrastructure and services, the control of pollution, and the encouragementof ef� cient resource use, environmental problems are greatly exacerbated (Mitlin andSatterthwaite 1997:148–9). CEMSAP is built on a set of guiding principles which aredesigned to lead to sustained environmental improvements, social justice and wealth creation.The EMS’s central thrust is on creating processes which support sustained improvements inthe quality of life for all people in Calcutta. In this regard, more emphasis is placed onrestructuring the processes which underlie environmental degradation in the CMA and lesson speci� c ‘solutions’ or projects. The CEMSAP report emphasises that such restructuringprovides the basis for attaining a wider coverage of services and cost-ef� ciency in urbanenvironmental services provision. Decision-making processes need to be transparent andaccessible to the community. Improving information � ows is vital at all levels. The actionplans are based on these guiding principles and have been designed to make incrementalimprovements to environmental management practices in line with local commitment andobjectives, resource mobilisation and institutional capacities—all of which take time todevelop (DOE, Government of West Bengal 1997:32).

Within the EMS there are six strategies, each of which has been prepared in consultationwith primary and secondary stakeholders: Strengthening Institutions and Resources Strategy(SIRS); Environmental Management and Protection Strategy (EMPS); Community Environ-mental Management Strategy (CEMS); Strategy for Economic cum Environmental Develop-ment (SEED); Municipal Environmental Improvement Strategy (MEIS); and EnvironmentalTransport Strategy (ETS). Each sector strategy gives an overview of key environmentalmanagement issues and risks in the sector, the major causes of environmental risks, goals andpriorities for environmental improvement in the sector and programs and plans to guidefuture sector investment and improve environmental management capacities. The action planswere supposed to be implemented in phases, starting in November 1996 and continuing intothe twenty-� rst century. CEMSAP has been the � rst step towards strengthening urbanenvironmental management in West Bengal. This is signi� cant because as Serageldin (WorldBank) points out, over the next decades, the most rapid growth in urban populations will bein cities under � ve million—not the world’s megacities (Serageldin 1998).

Financing CEMSAP will depend on enhancing local resource mobilisation (for example,introducing fair cost recovery user charges for services, with lifeline pricing to support thepoor, and making polluters pay), improving the ef� ciency of administration and servicesprovision (getting value for money) and leveraging new investment funding from nationaland international sources. The national � nancing sources include HUDCO and ILFC and theinternational � nancing sources include World Bank, Asian Development Bank, bilateralagencies such as UK DFID, USAID, Japanese JICA/OECF, Canada CIDA (DOE, Govern-ment of West Bengal 1997:35–6).

Recommendations and follow-up action

The CEMSAP report recommends that there should be a focus on the urban poor andvulnerable groups; water and sanitation should be given importance; urban environmentalgovernance needs to be strengthened; there should be better resource mobilisation andutilisation; Calcutta needs to be � nancially sustainable and free riding on the environmentshould be ended and people should pay for services; importance has to be given to operationand maintenance. The local communities and non-governmental organisations need to beinvolved and given recognition for the work they are already doing in the � eld.

The Government of West Bengal’s aim is to improve Calcutta’s image so that the citycan attract more investment and develop its economic base and in so doing improve socialwelfare for all citizens. By creating a cleaner and safer environment for all citizens the

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government also aims to create a fairer and more equitable society. A set of broad guidelineson environmental management in municipal areas has been prepared by the Department ofEnvironment, Government of West Bengal, through CEMSAP and the Calcutta MetropolitanDevelopment Authority (CMDA). The guidelines provide some simple suggestions onactions that can be taken in the municipality—by councillors, members of ward committee,staff, community groups or ordinary citizens—to increase awareness or check the majorcauses of pollution (DOE and CMDA 1997).

Although CEMSAP’s recommendations are based on an empirical study, they re� ect anevolving consensus on an agenda for the citizens of the twenty-� rst century. The four mainissues are: making patterns of urban production and consumption more sustainable; improv-ing the human development record of cities; strengthening social and political governance;and mobilising and optimising the use of resources for urban development (Kaul and Kirdar1997:10). More political commitment is needed at both the national and international levels,but there is also a need for the decentralisation of developmental responsibility to the localand community levels, encouragement of voluntary initiatives and the setting of targets forachieving intended goals and objectives, such as the eradication of poverty, as called for bythe World Summit on Social Development, and the establishment of indicators for measuringprogress (Kaul and Kirdar 1997).

Conclusion

Since the liberalisation of the Indian economy began in the early 1990s, several Indian statesand their major cities have begun to compete for investment and wish to take advantage ofthe new economic policies to promote/accelerate their economic growth. Competitiveadvantage is a relational concept. It is about the advantages (and disadvantages) enjoyed bya particular city, region or nation relative to other cities, regions or nations. But ‘untilrecently little has been written about the notion of the competitiveness of individual cities,in spite of the growing realisation of the important contribution that cities make to thecompetitiveness of national economies’. Cities are signi� cant economic actors in thedetermination of ‘competitive advantage’ (Oatley 1998:5).

Calcutta is a major commercial and industrial centre in India and South Asia and as thecapital of West Bengal has an important role to play in the economic growth of the state. TheGovernment of West Bengal’s aim is to improve Calcutta’s image so that the city can attractmore investment and further develop its economic base and in so doing improve socialwelfare for all its citizens. Environmental problems have adversely affected the city’s imageand the health and quality of life of the people who live in it. The government is thereforecommitted to creating a cleaner and safer environment for all citizens and thereby creatinga fairer and more equitable society. However, research on Calcutta’s environmental problemsand the CEMSAP report reveal that like many other Third World cities, Calcutta is havingto deal with both components of the Brown Agenda, which means traditional environmentalhealth issues as well as problems caused by rapid industrialisation, simultaneously. Williamscomments that ‘it is the general failure of governance in Third World cities which is the rootcause of many so-called environmental problems’ (Williams 1997:24), while Hardoy writesthat ‘remedying this failure … and addressing the reasons which underlie it should be centralto any new urban environmental agenda’ (Hardoy et al. 1992:205). Williams also asserts that‘a number of fundamental issues will have to be confronted in the development of a strategicapproach to urban environmental management which is multisectoral, multidisciplinary andparticipatory’. The Government of West Bengal/Calcutta has approached the city’s environ-mental problems in recent years more or less as advocated by the World Bank and otherinternational agencies. According to the World Bank, the most critical issues are themobilisation of public support and participation, improving policy interventions and the

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operation of urban systems, building institutional capacity and closing the knowledge gap. Inaddressing these issues city-speci� c urban management programs need to be prepared whichwould start with a rapid urban environmental assessment phase involving environmentalpro� ling and public consultation, as CEMSAP has done. The second phase would consist ofa long-term goal-setting environmental strategy which would guide a short- and medium-term environment action plan. This is precisely the approach that has been adopted byCEMSAP. The � nal outcome would be a sustainable investment program extending over aperiod of possibly 15–20 years, the strengthening of institutional support and policy reforms.However, Williams remarks that whether this approach, which he calls ‘technocentrism’, willwork or not only time will tell. He cautions against exercising too much control. Also, ‘thepossibility of alternative trajectories should not be dismissed’ (Williams 1997).

Nevertheless, the growing awareness of Calcutta’s and indeed all Third World cities’environmental problems is to be welcomed. India and many other developing countries arebeing forced to accept that ‘economic growth is the one and only road to development forall societies’ (Burchill 1996:58).9 Third World countries are, therefore, keen to takeadvantage of the opportunities that globalisation has to offer, although ironically it has erodedthe power of the state to protect its citizens from market forces. Consequently, in the absenceof effective urban environmental governance cities can not only turn into death traps for theircitizens, but also contribute to global environmental problems such as global warming,although the latter is primarily a concern of developed countries and the scienti� c community(Doyle 1998:771). It is indeed a global issue. A balance has to be maintained, therefore,between economic growth targets and environmental and social goals. Although this isprimarily the responsibility of national/local governments it requires cooperation between alldevelopmental players.10 An effort should also be made to mobilise all resources. Localgovernments in developing countries often do not have the � nancial resources or theexpertise to achieve their goals and require assistance from international agencies ordeveloped countries. Thus World Bank loans are funding several urban projects in Calcuttaand considerable aid has also been received from the UK. The World Bank’s total lendingfor urban-oriented projects is about $25 billion in more than 5000 cities and towns worldwideand the Bank had plans to lend an additional $15 billion for urban projects during1996– 2001. A substantial part of it was earmarked for programs that involve community-based organisations and NGOs (World Bank 1998). The World Bank claims that it willcontinue to help those governments and mayors interested in building their cities but makesthis assistance conditional on the mobilisation of both public and private sector resources(Serageldin 1998).

9 Scott writes that the new institutions of governance, such as the World Bank and NAFTA, are dominatedby the wealthy industrialised societies of the North. They enshrine the liberal principle that unfetteredcompetition between privately owned enterprises is the only ef� cient form of economic organisation.Critics, on the other hand, highlight the devastating effects of free trade policies which are imposedon subordinate societies, including environmental degradation, growing disparities of wealth andincome, and the creation of economic dependencies.

10 The Rio 1 5 Consultation revealed that there is a growing consensus that greater co-operation is neededat the international level to deal with global issues, particularly those dividing developed and developingcountries. Appropriate governance, management and delivery systems are urgently needed, especiallyat the national and local levels, to develop the necessary social, political, and � nancial capacity requiredto operationalise sustainable development. Partnerships must be established between different actorsof civil society to exchange relevant information, negotiate with governments, and contributemeaningfully to decision-making processes. Furthermore, political space must be created to discussissues related to public interest. See RIO 1 5, Moving Sustainable Development from Agenda to Action,available at: , URL:http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/ . .

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An effort should also be made to mobilise non-� nancial resources, such as a moral andethical commitment to people-centred and sustainable development (Serageldin 1998). TheBritish Government recently announced that UK companies investing abroad are to receivea manual from the Foreign Of� ce advising on best practice, such as protecting theenvironment and rejecting child labour. Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary, has asked theForeign Of� ce’s global citizenship unit to produce the manual as part of his drive to providean ‘ethical dimension’ to UK foreign policy (Parker 1999; Clapp 1998). The US President,Bill Clinton, has also announced that his country would devote at least $1 billion over thenext 5 years to help developing nations achieve clean and sustainable growth (Pandey andShukla 1999). On the other hand if a multilateral agreement on investment is signed bydeveloped countries it could lead to further exploitation of Third World countries and theenvironment (Doyle 1998:779–80).11 Finally, an agenda for the citizens of the twenty-� rstcentury should recon� rm the importance of many well-established policies and endorse therecommendations of the development conferences of the 1990s, notably the Earth Summit,the World Summit on Social Development, the Human Rights Conference, the Populationand Development Conference, the Women’s Conference, and the HABITAT II Conference.However, it is important to realise that in the age of globalisation it is not enough to justmake recommendations at the global level. Notwithstanding the formal sovereignty of states,the responsibility for setting targets and achieving them lies with all stakeholders and not justnational and/or local governments.

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