Living with the water : A study of changing livelihood structure in a peripheral part of Kolkata metropolitan area, West Bengal

The Baidyabati Khal (mentioned as River Kunti in Survey of India topographical sheet no.- 76 B/5) is an important irrigation channel for not only Baidyabati but also for the whole district. It is connected to DVC canals through aquaducts and other canals. This canal, along with Dankuni Drainage Canal creates a unique living space in the northern part of Baidyabati municipality. The Drainage channels, like most of the waterways of deltaic Bengal, is suffering from the problem of heavy siltation and frequent inundation of the surrounding areas. The study area, part of ward no. 17 and 18 of Baidyabati municipality, situated in the northern and north eastern part of the Baidyabati municipality, represents a marginal social niche where people have learnt to live with seasonal inundation and without many urban civic facilities that their fellow civilians who live in the core and more developed part of the same municipality enjoy. The present study tries to assess the social environment of the area and analyses how land use changes have affected the direction of development and socio cultural dynamics of this area. The study is based on data collected by primary survey and analysis of those data by quantitative and qualitative methods. The study shows how land development is changing the life of this urban marginal society and tries to understand if this change is a part of balanced urban development.