Question

How did the development of cities influence the ecology and environment in the late 19th century? Explain by giving an example of Calcutta (Kolkata).

Answer 1

• City development everywhere has been at the expense of ecology and environment. To accommodate factories, housing and other institutions, natural features are either transformed or flattened out.
• Large quantities of refuse and waste products pollute air and water and excessive noise becomes a feature of urban life. In the late 19th century, use of coal in homes and industries raised serious problems. 
• For example, in Calcutta, inhabitants inhaled grey smoke, particularly in winter. Since Calcutta was built on marshy land, the fog and smoke combined to generate a thick black smog. 
• High levels of pollution were a result of the huge population using dung and wood as fuel in their daily life. Main polluters were the industries that used steam engines run on coal. The introduction of the railway in 1855 brought a new dangerous pollutant – coal from Raniganj. It had a high content of ash. 
• Calcutta became the first Indian city in 1863 to get smoke nuisance legislation. In 1920, the rice mills of Tollygunge began to burn rice husk instead of coal, and people complained of “black soot falling like drizzling rain” causing bad tempers, dirty clothes and smokerelated illnesses. The inspectors of Bengal Smoke Nuisance Committee finally managed to control industrial smoke, but found controlling domestic smoke more difficult.