History of kolkata, kolkata city planning, Rajarhat city planning

1. Presented By
Mihir Adhikary

2. The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali
term Kolikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) the name of one of three villages where
the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages
were Sutanuti and Govindapur.
The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation
of Kalikkhetro (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র), meaning "Field of Kali [the
goddess] ". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit:
कालीक्षेत्र) means the "area of Goddess Kali”.
Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75
kilometers west of the border with Bangladesh
It is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational center of East
India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating.
Introduction
The city is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India, and is also
nicknamed the "City of Joy“.

3. Before Calcutta, there were at least five other capitals or urban
centers in Bengal at different times : Gour, Rajmahal, Dhaka,
Nadia and of course, Murshidabad, the seat of the last Nawabs of
Bengal. Calcutta can thus be considered as the sixth capital of the
province of Bengal.
Three villages existed before the existence of the city, they are:
Sutanuti Hat (cotton or yarn market) , Govindapur (named after
the Seth’s deity Gobindaji or Lord Krishna) and Kalikata.
The foundation of Calcutta may therefore be traced back to Job
Charnock’s landing on 24th August 1690.
It seems the pattern of Calcutta's development was chaotic from
the inception of the city. Planned settlement was not a priority for
either the foreign traders or their native associates and
beneficiaries: they viewed the city solely as a place for commercial
gain by the quickest means.
Chronology of Kolkata
Before 1690

4. 1690- In Kalikata the British found a convenient site for settlement.
Sutanuti, to its north, was bounded by the river on the west, the
Chitpur Creek to the north, and the rough line of the present Central
Avenue and Lalbazar to the east and south respectively. Gobindapur,
further south, is now occupied by FortWilliam and the Maidan.
THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF OLD CALCUTTA :
1696 – The original Fort William was built, the present day Fort-
William was built futher south in 1757.
1757- Major Step: To Shift The Bengalis From The Area Around The
Present Dalhousie Square To Further North Because Of The Strategic
Location to BuildThe Fort ForTheir Security.
Development of churches and Ghats started , Maratha Ditch was dug.
The English portion of Calcutta was only confined to the old Fort
William area (present day B.B.D Bag)
1757- 85 - Development of areas – Chowrangi, Baliganj, Tollyganj,
Garden Reach and Chipur.
Chronology of Kolkata
Figure shows the chronological development of the city

5. 1785-99 :The Ditch was never completed which was excavated to meet
the river, and was partly filled up in 1799 to create the Circular Road.
The area contained within the arch was the original town of Calcutta.
1800-1921:The area, which is south of the Maratha ditch, was full of
ponds and ditches and spreads of jungles. In the southern part it was
mostly the Englishmen and the rich businessmen who started
building up houses.The only directions for Calcutta's growth were
east and south. North was already congested and west was the river.
The capital got shifted in 1912 A.D,
and soon the British government
set up the Improvement trust for
the settlement of living condition
in the city.
Chronology of Kolkata
Figure shows the densification of the city Figure shows the chronological development of the city
After 1921, many new areas were
added to the eastern side of the
city and the old set up was tried to
transform into a new model.

6. Kolkata City Planning
Privately many may think that Calcutta and Planning look like a mismatch. But Partho Datta's recent
book on Calcutta's planning tries to prove that “colonial Calcutta had not only been planned, it had been
severely planned. The ignorance has arisen because the history of Calcutta planning was not written
about before”.
Calcutta being the first capital of British India, was thick in the process of development. After the Battle
of Plassey with the laying out of Maidan around Fort William, the British entrenched themselves with the
local administration.
Having been elevated from merchants to rulers, their immediate concern was to provide wide roads for
easy movement of their army, establishment of commercial interests wherever possible and attending
to the urgent needs of fire control and prevention of epidemics in their seat of power i.e.Calcutta.
With these goals in mind, Governor General Lord Wellesley (1798-1805) began the planning process with
his prescriptive ‘Minute on Calcutta' in 1803

7. Rajarhat New town planning
New Town Kolkata is a planned newly developed
satellite city on the north-eastern fringes of Kolkata.
The city is 10 years old, being born with the
enactment of the NKDA Act in 2007. It provides the
best in class urban infrastructure facility and
government service delivery to its citizens while
preserving the cultural heritage of West Bengal. Over
the last 10 years, the city has already achieved world
class basic / core infrastructure facilities.
The New Town has been also declared as a solar city
by the previous UPA Government at the centre and
now the initiatives are being taken to declare this city
as smart green city, a dream project of Narendra Modi
(Prime Minister of India) with the help of Mamata
Benerjee (Chief minister ofW.B)

8. Background
The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (WBHIDCO), a wholly owned
Govt. Company set up by the Govt. of West Bengal in 1999 is developing a New Town, very close to the
City of Kolkata.
In order to bring about organized development in these surroundings as well as to cater to the pressure
of development in the New Town area, adjoining 45 Mouzas had been notified to be included in the
NewTown Planning Area (NTPA).
In the pace of rapid urbanization and growing demand for housing and commercial spaces, the New
Town, Kolkata was created in the eastern outskirts of Kolkata to serve the dual purposes of:
 Establishing new business centre to reduce the mounting pressure on the existing Central
Business Districts (CBD) and
 Increasing housing stock supply by creating new residential units.
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority has been constituted under The New Town Kolkata
Development Authority Act, 2007 for rendering various civic services and amenities within New Town,
Kolkata and it has come into effect since November, 2008

9. Every new city built or planned should have aVision for which the project aims for.TheVision of
WBHIDCO for the New Town Planning Area (NTPA) is therefore “Preparation of LUDCP to guide a
planned development in the adjoining Area of New town”.
Objectives of the LUDCP for NewTown Planning Area
The primary objectives for preparing this LUDCP are as follows:
a. To coordinate land resources and economy with land use planning
b. To achieve balanced development of the related areas
c. To minimize the pressure of development within New Town taking into account an overall
inclusive economic growth
d. To generate new areas for absorbing future metropolitan growth by controlling development in
areas adjoining NewTown, Kolkata
e. To prevent unplanned growth of settlements in the presently vacant areas by guiding planned
infrastructure facilities for sustaining the residential & business activities and other facilities
f. To reserve new areas for setting up regional level centers of community facilities in the form of
business districts
g. To provide an environment friendly and aesthetically attractive new urban settlement

10. Rules of business was changed in 1997, entrusting Housing Department for development of Rajarhat
township comprising Rajarhat Police Station of North 24‐Pgs and erstwhile Bhangar Police Station
of South 24‐Parganas) Series of studies were made and reports from experts including
environment clearance on the Environment ImpactAssessment were obtained.
With the objective of developing an eco‐friendly green dotted New Town, it was designed to develop
the area in different phases.The area was initially divided into three Action Areas.
Development of the township
Figure shows the action
areas of New town
Figure shows the Action areas of New town

11. Environment FriendlyTownship:
Large Open Space, greeneries and water bodies: 50 % o
f the project area is left open for roads, drains, greeneri
es, water bodies etc. Total recorded water bodies in Ne
w Town project area was around 109 hectares. The aut
hority has already created 113 hectares of water bodies.
Around 251 hectares of water bodies are planned to be
created in New town. Land area developed 2388 Ha an
d Water supply, sewerage & drainage works have been
entrusted to PHE Department of Govt. of West Bengal .
Some activities under the plan

12. Roads and bridges: The Infrastructures which
have already developed-
 6‐lane Bridge over Krisnpapur Canal
 Major Arterial Road of 59 meters width and 10.75 K
m long,
 2nd bridge over Bagjola canal on North –
South Corridor
 Fly over on the MAR andVIP Road junction,
 Bailey bridge over Bagjola canal
 Three small bridges over link canal.
 Bridge over pass Khal at Mission Bazar.
 Fly over on MAR in Action Area –I

13. The Rajarhat New Town has been
planned in a way and for the propose
of formulating the general proposals
of the land use and Land Use and
Development Control Plan (LUDCP)
indicates broadly the manner in which
the land is proposed to be used
.The planning area of the Town has
been planned to develop as an
environment friendly city. More than
10% of the Town planning area will
remain permanently open in the
form of green areas, and open space.
Table shows the Proposed land use pattern
Proposed land use pattern of NTPA

14. Proposed Land Use Pattern Map of NTPA

15. From the table and figure it is clear
that the uses of land use pattern of
Rajarhat New Town in 2001 try to
achieve as per proposed land use
pattern. 26.78 sq.km areas proposed
for residential, where as 19.74 sq.km
areas covered residential purpose in
2001. The on-going project also tries
to cover the proposed land use
pattern in different sectors like
Business area, & IT. Educational,
Industrial, Road and Transportation,
and Open space &Water bodies.
Land Use pattern of Rajarhat NewTown, 2001

16. Proposed Impression of the smart area

17. Impression OfThe Smart Area

18. Smart Parking

19. The City Citizen’s Complaint Redressal Software will have a
human face to make it inclusive, to enable poorer sections to
access easily by normal phone call. The “ human face” of the
inclusive technology will be friendly neighbourhood smart
friend “Anandababu; essentially a 24X7 call centre with a
human brand.
‘Anandababu’-The Smart Assistant

20. No doubt, Rajarhat New Town is a well planning city. But it’s true that so many
problems arise in the city after changing the land use pattern of the area. The major
problems are-
i) Change the occupational pattern of the area due to transformation of agricultural
land into urban land use pattern. Number of local people lost their agricultural land
and people faced massive problem of the old area.
ii) Different environmental problems arise (air pollution, dirt problem) due to so many
numbers of cutting of trees for making the city.
iii) Within 20 minutes distance from the city the international airport is located. As a
result the noise of the aeroplanes create headache, mental problem, hearing
problem etc.
iv) Road side residential local people facing very much noise pollution because of bad
noise and horn of the many vehicles, when it passes through the area.
Problems of the city

21. Thank you