Tram festival coming up in Kolkata as Bengal govt looks to close transport service

West Bengal government has made it clear that it is not interested in preserving this environment-friendly mode of transport

How preserving the Sunderbans is as important as saving the tram for Kolkata to fight climate change — this will be the theme of a four-day tram celebration to be held at the end of this month, when the public will be allowed free rides on the Gariahat-Esplanade-Shyambazar route.

The festival, from March 28-31, is being organised by Tramjatra (literally, tram’s journey), a moving tram carnival started in 1996 jointly by enthusiasts from Melbourne and Kolkata. The event becomes important at a time when the West Bengal government has made it clear that it is not interested in preserving this environment-friendly mode of transport and is keeping two routes afloat only because the matter is still in court.

“Sunderban Tramjatra is going to be a festival of learning: four days of celebration and soul-searching about the largest mangrove system on earth and its neighbouring megacity as they become extremely vulnerable to climate change,” filmmaker Mahadeb Shi, a co-founder of Tramjatra and also a key member of Calcutta Tram Users’ Association, told The Hindu.

“There will be a climate-themed tram offering free travel from March 28-30 from 10.30 A.M. to 5.30 P.M. There will be artistic performances by Melbourne and Kolkata tram conductors. A Sunderbans boat pandal will be created at the Esplanade depot, which will act as a hub for the community and for media. The idea is to send a message that not only Kolkatans but even the international community is worried about the possible closure of its tram,” Mr. Shi said.

The Australian guests have already reached Kolkata. They include Roberto D’Andrea, a former tram conductor-driver from Melbourne whose idea it was to create an initiative like Tramjatra, and designer artist Michael Ross Douglas, also from Melbourne. Accompanied by Kolkata members of Tramjatra, the visitors would be spending a few days at Sunderbans before the event.

“Besides Roberto, there are transport experts and theatre artistes and design professors from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. There is also Alok Jain, former CEO of Hong Kong Tramways. Bengal artist Sumantra Mukherjee is designing the special hub and Swarna Chitrakar will be helping him decorate the tram. The performers include Rajesh Shinde and Sunderban folk artistes and Kolkata-based music groups,” Mr. Shi said.

He made it clear that the event was being organised entirely by Tramjatra, and that the West Bengal Transport Corporation, which owns the Kolkata network, was only lending it tram and depot space during the festival, apart from “co-operating with us to organise the event smoothly”.