In Kolkata, the focus is back, at least for the time being, on its historic tram, with the city witnessing two separate events — a recent protest and an upcoming celebration — calling for saving this environment-friendly mode of transport.
On Sunday (March 23, 2025) afternoon, the Calcutta Tram Users’ Association (CTUA), organised a rally to demand the resumption of the important Ballygunge-Tollygunge route, which has remained suspended since August 2024. This is one of the three tram routes that still remain active — the two others being Esplanade-Gariahat and Esplanade-Shyambazar.
This route was suspended due to pipeline work and was supposed to be closed for only a few weeks. A successful trial run was held after Durga Puja but there was no sign of its restoration. The CTUA members assembled at the Ballygunge terminus and walked up to Rashbehari crossing, with speakers alleging that the idea behind shutting this route was to sell the depot land.
“I used to travel by tram as a kid and I still do whenever I get the chance. Since I live in Ballygunge, it is convenient to take the tram whenever I am going towards Tollygunge because the number of buses is insufficient. An AC bus costs ₹25 and an autorickshaw charges ₹30-40 for the break journey, whereas a tram ticket costs only ₹7. This important route has been unnecessarily closed for the past eight months, causing inconvenience to the people and putting a strain on their pockets,” Indranil Banerjee, an engineer with Indian Railways who participated in the rally, told The Hindu.
Even while this protest march was on, a team of tram enthusiasts from Kolkata and Melbourne was visiting the Sunderbans ahead of their four-day event in Kolkata that will emphasise how preserving the Sunderbans is as important as saving the tram in order to fight climate.
The festival, Sunderban Tramjatra, to be held March 28-31 and hosted by Tramjatra, a moving tram carnival started in 1996 jointly by tram enthusiasts from Melbourne and Kolkata, is being called by organisers a “four days of celebration and soul-searching about the largest mangrove system on earth and its neighbouring megacity.” People will allowed a free ride on a bedecked tram on the Gariahat-Esplanade-Shyambazar route for the first three days.
A team of tram lovers from Kolkata and Melbourne visited Sunderbans ahead of a four-day event in Kolkata and interacted with local communities — including victims of natural calamities and families of people killed by tigers
As many as six invitees from Melbourne are here for the event, including Roberto D’Andrea, a former tram conductor-driver from that city whose idea it was to found Tramjatra.
“The visit to the Sunderbans was a wonderful fact-finding mission and learning experience. We learnt a lot about local bio-diversity and the whole mangrove ecosystem in general. We stayed on a boat for two full days and nights, watching the birds and other species of Sunderbans and were also extremely fortunate to sight not one but two tigers,” filmmaker Mahadeb Shi, a co-founder of Tramjatra, said.
“We were privileged to meet and engage with local communities; we also met Mukut Biswas of Prameya Foundation, which is among NGOs supporting local people impacted by disasters linked to climate change. We met victims of various cyclones and heard their heart-rending stories; we also heard stories from families whose members had perished in attacks by tigers and crocodiles while fishing or collecting honey. People in general are not very happy with the government support,” Mr. Shi said.
Published – March 25, 2025 05:45 am IST
