While expert panel decides on Kolkata tram’s future, commuters’ union to continue protests

The Calcutta Tram Users’ Association plans to hold a protest in College Street in Kolkata on Saturday to demand more trams on the just three routes that remain functional.  In June this year, the Calcutta High Court called for preservation of the tram and directed the setting up of an expert committee that would submit a report to the court on how to restore and maintain this non-polluting mode of transport. There was a time when 400-plus trams ran in the city. Today, you will find barely 10.

While the future of the iconic Kolkata tram now largely depends on the Calcutta High Court and the expert committee recently set up by it, the Calcutta Tram Users’ Association — which is a part of the committee — plans to hold a protest in College Street on Saturday to demand more trams on the just three routes that remain functional. 

“There was a time when 400-plus trams ran in the city. Today, you will find barely 10. Trams, if they are allowed to run, will easily turn out to be a popular and convenient mode of transport, but nobody is allowing it to regain its popularity. That is why we will protest, along with Citizens’ Protest Forum; we want more trams to run on the routes that remain functional,” said Debasish Bhattacharyya, president of Calcutta Tram Users’ Association, who is a member of the expert committee.

At present, only three tram routes are functional in Kolkata, the only Indian city where trams still run: Tollygunge to Ballygunge (and reverse); Gariahat to Esplanade (and reverse); and Esplanade to Shyambazar (and reverse).

In June this year, following a petition by a lawyer, the Calcutta High Court called for preservation of the tram and directed the setting up of an expert committee that would submit a report to the court on how to restore and maintain this non-polluting mode of transport.

“This court takes judicial notice of the fact that several heritage structures in the State are being preserved by State. Either fully funded by the State or partly funded by the Centre. Therefore, we are of the clear view that the tram services should not be totally effaced or dismantled in the city of Kolkata,” the court had said, expressing surprise at the fact that substantial assets of the Calcutta Tramways Corporation had already been sold and prohibiting their sale in future.

The expert committee, headed by the Managing Director of West Bengal Transport Corporation, has had only one meeting so far, on August 21; and it is only this week that the minutes of that meeting — largely introductory in nature — are likely to be submitted to the court, following which the next date would be fixed.

“The court prohibiting the sale of tramways property and also prohibiting filling of tram tracks with bitumen — these are the two best things to happen for us. But we are still going to protest in College Street because we want them to increase the number of trams. Just before Durga Puja, College Street is packed with shoppers, and when a place is crowded, the trams also usually get packed — which is a win-win situation for both, the public and the tramways. But of late, whenever a place is crowded, the traffic police, far from increasing its frequency, stops the tram service — which is what we will protest against,” Dr. Bhattacharyya said.