The Floating Life of Kolkata

The Bengali word nouka is used to include both categories of large and small watercraft. However, a more specific designation would be nouka for a large, rowing craft and dingi, for a small one in which paddling is the more common mode of propulsion. The origin of the West Bengal dingi can be linked with the Austric term dinghy (a shallow boat). In Medinipur, some water vessels such as the Sultani and Khorokisti are called bot (boat). It appears that bot is used to describe big crafts with sails. In Kakdwip, the kakdwip trawler, is always referred to as a trawler, not as a boat. 

In West Bengal, boats are built shell first; planking takes place from the central board and then planks are fitted from the garboards (the planks next to the keel) to the sheer strake (the upper edge of the boat’s side). The planks are laid one by one on each side, and joined and fastened with metal staples, called patam or jolui. The hull, therefore, has a smooth surface as opposed to the European clinker-built boats in which planks are laid successively, overlapping one another. After finishing the empty shell of the hull, the ship builders usually add a set of inner frames. 

These were cargo boats which carried salt from ships anchored at port to the various warehouses located upriver. Over time, the cargo they transported changed and, instead of salt, they now carry white sand (deposited silt) from the char (raised silted riverbed) which is used in road construction and land filling. These boats continue to be operated manually using long oars and the occasional square sails. 
Pansis are smooth-skinned, shell built, round hulled boats with long beams and shallow depths. The bottom of the boat is spoon shaped and the craftsmanship is a lot blunter compared to other boat varieties.

Dingi (an Austric term) is an all-purpose boat. A special typological variety of dingi used by the fisherfolk is called jele dingi. The width of this dingi varies according to the amount of cargo it carries. When used as a fishing vessel, the shape becomes long and narrow. These are also shell built, spoon shaped, rabbeted, and stapled boats. Generally, a small shed made of bamboo cane is used as a resting place on the boat. Jele dingis of Kolkata are traditionally 10 to 16 haat (one haat equals 18 inches) in length.

A shell built stapled and rabbeted fishing boat used in the lower Gangetic delta, the Jele Bachharis have an elongated shape. The boat is equipped with fishing nets and other gear and is between 28 to 32 haat in length. These boats are also used in Kolkata for fishing, but the fisherfolk who use them often hail from Baduria of the North Twenty Four Parganas region. 

Hulo, a fisherman in Bagbazar, still goes fishing with his 30 haat jele bachhari but rarely catches the exotic Hilsa fish (most popular in West Bengal). Despite his dire financial straits, he continues to hope for a better future, though the underlying doubts remain. While the son of a boatman, Bhola, is not interested in his family’s fishing business, he is rather busy searching for other jobs.

Khorokisti, a skeleton built straw carrier of Lower Bengal is usually 50 haat (1 haat=1.5 feet) in length and 15 haat in width. Khorokistis frequently ran between Geonkhali of the Medinipur district to the Sundarbans to load 350 to 400 kahon (a unit to measure the amount of straw) of straw which they unloaded in different parts of Kolkata. This boat is propelled by the lug sail (a four-cornered quadrilateral fore and aft sail. This evolved from the square sail and its shape is between the lateen sail and the square sail when it moves without cargo. As fully loaded khorokistis could not move independently with sails, a small boat called chhot was used to tow it along. Chhots were later replaced by motorized boats. Unfortunately, West Bengal has lost almost all its khorokistis.

Sultani is a cargo boat of the lower Gangetic delta with a carrying capacity ranging from 1500 to 3000 maunds. Sultanis continue to be built but their capacity has increased. It is now motorized, so the mast and sails are no longer in use. Sultanis used to cater cargo to Kolkata from the Sundarbans.

Kolkata earned her laurels because of the Hooghly River and the state of West Bengal earned its wealth or developed on account of its water channels. Cargo and commodities from the eastern parts of India were stacked in warehouses across Kolkata and along the course of the Ganga on boats. The East India Company saw this to their advantage and exported local goods to Europe and the Americas, while keeping the gross profit for themselves. 

The once busy riverways have dwindled to mere water channels that no longer carry cargo or pleasure boats. There are a small number of Mahajoni noukas carrying goods between Posta (Barabazar, Kolkata) and Uluberies (Howrah) but this effective, economic, and eco-friendly transportation system is on the verge of collapse.

The Bhanr boat, steered by Sudeb majhi (helmsman), is no longer in use. The owner of this boat is Shyam Babu and the boat has been sitting idle for decades. The irony is, when Shyam Babu’s next generation i.e. his daughter decides to reuse the lohasaal (a kind of exceptionally good wood) of the bhanr boat in making furniture. This has become the fate of Kolkata’s only bhanr boat. Though pansi boats are still in use carrying and lifting sands from the riverbed instead of salt for which they were veteran. Thus, the character of work has changed for pansi. Sultani of Nurpur (South 24 Parganas) has stopped her visit to Kolkata.  


When asked if the traditional boat will go extinct soon, Nimai Barick, a 70-year-old boat maker says, “as long as water is there, there will be boats.” A holistic approach is inevitable to maintain the water resources we have or else we are doomed to lose the enriched riverine culture of the Ganga.