FARAKKA BARRAGE, KOLKATA, ABHIJIT BANERJEE

 

Kolkata was a river port. In the 18th and 19th century, it grew rich in agricultural exports - jute, cotton, indigo and opium. It was a thriving market for indentured labourers. 

Kolkata was, for long moment, the wealthiest city in Asia. It had been India's capital.

The Kolkata port went into a slow decline because,

1. The Trade in the commodities became a less important part of world trade.

2. The rise of industrial substitutes for jute, indigo etc.

3. India stopped selling opium

To make matters worse, there was the gradual silting of the Hooghly river. It was difficult for larger ships to go upriver.

Kolkata, with its jute and cotton industry, had become a transportation hub where railways brought commodities to be put on ships. As the port was not doing well, it declined. 

Investment had slowed down because globally there was less and less appetite for smoke-stack industries right inside people's living quarters. Industries and jobs started moving out. The quick influx of refugees after the partition of India had made the city less livable. 

Though there were discussions on the necessity for the revival of the city, the planners were looking for the revival of the port. But it could not take off due to pure geography - lower Bengal was as flat as flat can be. There was no force in the water to clear away the silt. 

The policy makers pinned their hopes on the Farakka barrage that would divert water from the Padma into the Hooghly to flush out the silt. The Faarakka barrage was universally celebrated. It came with a railway bridge. It brought the mountains and momos of Darjeeling close. But the barrage could not perform what was perceived. The debris of the failed venture remain. Bangladesh still resents the fact that we grabbed "their' water.  

Farakka was too far away. And nobody had accounted for the growth in the size of cargo ships.

The Port died.

Abhijit Banerjee, the Nobel laureate, writes in The Times of India of 6th November 2026..