A national seminar at the BE College Ex-Students’ Club brought together experts from across the country to discuss the challenges of pursuing infrastructure projects while maintaining sustainability.
“For students, sustainable development may seem like a bookish concept, but once you join the workforce, you realise how important it is, and how much of a challenge or opportunity it can be, depending on your outlook,” said Antara Acharya, secretary, Public Works Department. “You cannot build infrastructure without factoring the likes of environmental impact, displacement of people, emissions, and sewerage and drainage.”
Acharya said one could plan a project on a land that seemed available but then suddenly someone may claim it belonged to their grandfather. “It can go into litigation and stall the project. Something similar happened during the Airport–New Garia Metro construction around Technopolis in Sector V. Someone claimed ancestral ownership, so the project alignment had to be shifted. So localised studies are crucial when planning large projects. That way execution is smoother and timelines can be met.”
She also hailed the formation of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) as a landmark move towards protecting the environment in the face of development. “Rabindra Sarobar, for instance would get taken over by devotees during a religious festival and it posed a threat to the biodiversity there. But when the NGT mandated it to be stopped, we had to find alternative temporary water bodies,” she said.
Debashis Sen, retired IAS and former chief of Hidco and New Town Kolkata Development Authority, recalled initiatives to make the township greener. “We gave up 47 green verges for ‘adoption’. Various groups took them up and developed them in their own way. We took this step since every monsoon people would ask for space to plant saplings.”
The move proved successful. One group chose to grow bamboo as it produces 30 per cent more oxygen than most plants, and the stretch became an oxygen corridor, said Sen. “However, more needs to be done. Areas like Chingrihata and Technopolis face severe congestion during rush hours, which must be addressed for better urban planning.”
Water worries
Arun Kumar Deb, both an alumnus and former professor of BE College, who later moved abroad, spoke on water conservation.
“Water supply is constant, but the population keeps increasing. We need radical changes to meet the demand,” he said. His solution was a dual-pipeline system. “The highest grade of treated water is needed only for drinking and cooking. This quality is not required for gardening, toilets, or industrial and commercial use. So water and money can be saved if two separate lines are created,” said the engineer, who has donated $1 million to his alma mater for research in this field.
He also highlighted the role of legislation. “A landmark law was the US Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, which classified every water body — for swimming, boating, drinking, etc — and defined permissible waste levels in each,” he said.
“New York City sources its water from 150 miles away in the hills, making it so pure that it does not even need filtration. But again, such high-quality water is only needed in the kitchen. If we can save even 20 per cent of water, it could mean avoiding the construction of three to four treatment plants,” Deb said.
Sreechand S., head (corporate centre) L&T construction, spoke about industry practices. “Our goal is carbon neutrality by 2040 and water neutrality by 2035. It is challenging to train an unskilled workforce in conservation, so we use low-flow taps in labour colonies, reuse water for gardening and dust suppression, and adopt solar energy wherever possible,” said Sreechand, who had come down from Chennai. “Once, after Ganesh Chaturthi, we used leftover concrete to make a Ganesh idol.”
He also spoke about their sustainable projects. “When we built the Ram temple in Ayodhya, we trained local artisans to work on it. It is designed for a lifespan of 1,000 years. The Sardar Patel Statue of Unity in Gujarat was challenging due to ecological concerns, especially protecting crocodile habitats,” he said. “For the new Bangalore airport, our brief was to build ‘an airport in a garden’ and it went on to receive platinum certificates from the likes of Indian Green Building Council. We do what we can as we believe that we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
“Our job is a challenge as only 50 per cent of it is in our control. The rest depends on local politicians, vendors and other stakeholders,” said Jayanta Basu, managing director of the construction company Cemindia Projects.
Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya, chairman of the Peerless Group, suggested a simple intervention. “Coal should be washed from the mines before being sent out. That is the best practise but companies often avoid it due to cost. This increases the load on railway transport unnecessarily,” he said.
Also on the dais were secretary Kamal Kumar Simlai, Alok Raychaudhuri, chairperson of the seminar, and president Gautam Ray. “Ours is one of the oldest colleges in India, and our club too turned 40 this year. We strive to keep it vibrant with cultural events and knowledge seminars and this national meet is our flagship seminar,” said Ray.
Brinda Sarkar