In Kolkata, protests begin to save tram

Protesters gather at Shyam Bazar tram depot to save iconic Kolkata tram from closure, sparking public outrage.

The tram depot at Shyam Bazar is unlikely to have so many people in years as it did on Thursday (September 26, 2024) when, on a rain-drenched afternoon, dozens of protesters gathered to raise their voice against the West Bengal government’s proposal to shut the iconic Kolkata tram.

The protest was called by the general public under the banner ‘Save Heritage, Save Tram’ and was participated in by a number of men and women, including members of CTUA, or Calcutta Tram Users’ Association. People on Facebook have been urging their friends to join the protest in order to keep the tram alive.

“This was the first time we attended to protest meet that wasn’t called by any particular organisation or political outfit. And this was the first time we participated in a meeting while it was raining heavily — we all got drenched, but we had to be there. We took out a short protest march, we spoke to the crowd from the top of a van, and there was also a street play. This is the beginning of the display of public anger,” CTUA president Debasish Bhattacharyya told The Hindu.

Mr. Bhattacharyya told the gathering that the people of West Bengal had elected the present government to run the State machineries properly and had left the tramway in the custody of the transport department for its maintenance and efficient operations. “But the West Bengal Transport Corporation got caught in a sick and distorted mentality, as evident from the sabotage of the tramway,” he said.

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The retired scientist further said, “The allegations against the tramway — that it is slow and causes traffic jams and that the tracks cause road accidents — by the traffic police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation are all fake. Not a single complaint has been proven by the authorities with scientifically valid data. We are, therefore, compelled to believe that there are unscrupulous dealings behind all this, and citizens are being kept in the dark.”

Legally, the future of the tram, at the moment, is in the Calcutta High Court, which formed an advisory committee in June 2023 and sought a report on how services could be restored, maintained and preserved.