kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will write to the state Irrigation department asking for permission for the development and beautification of the banks surrounding the historical Maratha Ditch (Chitpur Lock gate) in North Kolkata.
The councillor of ward 12, Minakshi Ganguly has proposed that KMC beautify and develop the banks surrounding the Maratha Ditch in her ward which is of heritage value.
This ditch was a 3-mile-long deep entrenchment constructed by the English East India Company around Fort William in then Calcutta in 1742 as a protection against attack by looting ‘Bargi’, known as Maratha locally. Later, the municipal authorities decided to turn this moat into a major canal in the Chitpore area for water transport. The Chitpore Bridge was also built and below it, there was a lock gate allowing boats to pass.The councillor said that since it has a heritage value the KMC ought to think about the beautification of the banks and initiate a light and sound show which will restore the heritage value of the ward. She further proposed that the lives of the people living on the banks of the canal could also be improved through a “livelihood programme”.
Mayor Firhad Hakim said that though the idea is praiseworthy, the area there belongs to the state irrigation department. He said that permission needs to be sought for the development work. “I will write to the state Irrigation department for permission. If it is granted then we will first start with the beautification work” he assured.
History has it that the Bengali merchants were entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the Chitpore Road that ran from north to south near the site of the then Fort William (present-day Calcutta GPO site in Dalhousie Square).
With their trade flourishing, the merchants became fearful of a possible raid by the Bargis and thus decided that a ditch be dug to thwart a possible raid. The East India Company had petitioned the Nawab Alivardi Khan for the entrenchment intended to circle the landward sides of
then Calcutta.