An Environmental Assessment of Urban Drainage, Sewage and Solid Waste Management in Barddhaman Municipality, West Bengal

Present day urbanization of most of the Indian cities and towns is not well associated with the rapid improvement of urban socio-economic facility and urban governance. Increasing percentage of urban population does not always mean increasing level of urban development, because, for example, more urban population means that they consume vast amount of resources and generate heave of waste and garbage which is not totally managed by urban local governing body due to less equipments, shortage of manpower and low circulation of existing facility in drainage, sewage, public sanitation and solid waste management. Being an emergent urban centre and close proximity to Kolkata, Durgapur and Asansol cities, Barddhaman (or Burdwan) municipal area has expanded in a haphazard manner from 1980s. The existing facility of waste management and drainage does not cope up with the increasing load of population and daily waste, for example, due to easy accessibility of the main town, except jobs or fmding out new settlements, in every day almost 2 lakhs population come to Barddhaman for education, business, health facility, shopping and entertainments. The result is environmental pollution and reduction in long-term prosperity of urban health. So the present article is a concise attempt to analyse critically (using statistical techniques and Geographic Information System) the present condition and problems of drainage, sewage and solid waste management in Barddhaman municipal area, West Bengal.