Aimed at mapping the urban water commons and understanding Kolkata’s water systems through following the path of water, this video story addresses water distribution issues. It also seeks to uncover how water distribution and consumption patterns in Kolkata fair from a social equity point of view. As a prelude to the initiation of the video, the city’s water infrastructure can be understood by answering three important questions—Where does the city’s water come from? How is it distributed and used? Where does the used water go?
The first part of the series explores the history of water supply infrastructure in Kolkata in the form of a short explainer video (released in 2021). With the help of secondary resources, the evolution in the water supply system was traced from local water carriers (or bhistis) and underground water tanks to the first water works department and followed by several other developments. The expansion was traced from the colonial period in the early 1800s to post-independent India.
See the first video at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvK61JQfa03c
This explainer video forms the second part of the series and is aimed at understanding how this water is distributed once it is within the control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). The findings from this video clue us into the upcoming third and final part of the series—uncovering how used water makes its way out of our homes, to the sewage lines, and beyond. The series intends to provide a holistic understanding of Kolkata’s water system. This will finally lead the Veditum India Foundation [City Water Walks] to start regular walking tours, City Water Walks, around Kolkata’s water bodies, creating and maintaining a live archive for community engagement, advancing justice and accountability of our shared water systems and their governance.