| This action submitted in Local Actions at 4th World Water Forum (2006). | |
| Date | Mar.2,2007 |
| Region | Asia |
| Country | India |
| Actor(s) [Nation (Ministry, Agency)/Organization] |
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority |
| Partner(s) | Titagarh Municipality Bandipur Panchayat (village council) |
| Title | Management of Waste Water for Urban Food Production |
| Objective | Most of the people in Titagarh town are industrial workers and belong to the economically weaker section. Titagarh, has an old sewage teatment plant (STP) with a capacity to treat 9.08 million litres of sewage per day (mld). There was no scheme to utilise wastewater. As this plant was found to be inadequate, a new stabilisation tank system was proposed with a capacity of 14.10 mld to bring the total capacity to 23.18 mld. The new stabilisation tak system (STS) has been built in Bandipur, 2km from Titagarh in rural area and advantage was taken to utilise wastewater and sludge in vegetable production and aquaculture for fish production. Short term measures included employment availability of food and utilisation of waste water but longterm benefits are many as it beomes demonstration projects become part of urban development programme, creates a green buffer between urban and rural area, and it creats better environment with more oxygen with control of pollution. The local governments has less investment in waste desposal and treatment and get longterm financial benefits. With declining employment in the industrial sector and the growth of informal sector, the urban poor and the low income families are increasingly shifting towards urban agri-aquaculture for survival. With growth of economy there is increasing amount of domestic and industrial waste water and only a small percentage gets treatment and the rest is flown to rivers, streams and ocean creating pollution. The construction of treatment plant is expensive and also its maintenance. There are many traditional or conventional methods and the policy of “Reduce, Recycle and reuse” can be revived. One of these is waste water treatment through recycling in natural process and development of aquaculture with fisheries. This can be combined with vegetable production with natural composting of separated solid waste and use of wastewater and sludge. Kolkata, India has the largest recycling district with 2500 ha, which originally was 10,000 ha. The number of fishponds is 148 and yield is 15000 tons per year. It is in practice from 1930’s. There are three main objectives (a) a watersupply to desplace the need for other sources of water (b) cost effective means for the environmentally sound treatment and disposal of urban waste water and (c) an incidental secondary benefit from the disposal of wastewater primarily crop production by irrigation, and fish production by aquaculture. There are several benefits to common people – less need for packaging, storage and transportation of food, potential jobs and additional income for marginal population, non market access to some foods for consumers below poverty, level and easy availability of fresh perishble vegatables and fish at an affordable cost. A local action can be of global significance. |
| Contents | The conventional system of city planning based an landuse planning, zoning (town planning regulation etc.) do not deal with environmental sustainability and a sustainable city is part of a large ecosystem. The cities get raw material, water and other resources and produce waste, Production of waste in a city has to be minimised. With recycling of waste there will be reduction of both intake, and output in the resouce stream. The disposal of waste water, through treatment plant has become expensive. There is growing awareness of recycling of wastewater for aquaculture for fish production, and utilisation of sludge for vegetable production and wastewater for irrigation. The indigenous system is adopted by the fishermen and farmers themselves in various wetlands in Kolkata and it has reduced the problem of disposal of waste, provided employment to the poor, producing food and creating better environment with reduction of pollution. The sewage and wastewate fed fisheries, often associated with vegetable production is now officially encouraged by the urban local bodies. There are now several projects in the periurban area of Kolkata Metropolitan area which are functioning with participation of local people farmers and fishermen and local municipal government or village councils. The Community Based Wetland Ecosystem (CBWE) was first introduced in 1995 in Titagarh, a northern suburban industrial town 22km, north of Kolkata, India. The area had a population of 344700 in 2001 in metropolitan area. The project is now known as Integrated Resource Recovery project in Titagarh. Bandipur area. There were initial difficulties. At first administrative problem of establishing connection between a municipal Town (Titagarh) and a non-municipal rural land unit. (Bandipur) with two different types of governments secondly the private public partnership as the farmers and fishermen are to be brought and lastly the owners of the land to agree in this multistakeholder participatory process. Despite absence of legislative measures the project could be carried out succesfully. The integrated complex of Bandipur and Tigagarh has been leased out to 110 farmers. Around 30 to 32 types of vegetables (exotic and indigenous) are cultivated, depending on the season and the climatic conditions. Some of the more profitable vegetables are spinech, Chinese onion, carviander, cauliflower, kidney beans, lettuce etc. As estimated quantity of 3060 tonnes of vegetables is produced by the farmers annually, while sizeable quantity of fish is produced. About 800 people are employed. The improvement has besides employment, provision of food and nutrition, better land management, control of pollution etc. The process of Bandipur, wastewater treatment and aquaculture, is known as the resource efficient stabilisation tank system. It is a project based on experience gained from sewage and wastewaterfed fisheries in east Kolkata wetlands. The stabilisation tanks are designed to produce an effluent suitable for aquaculture. Fish culture is currently practised in both the facultative and maturation ponds. The high productivity is due to the high content of nutrients in the wstewater, while the high alkanity stimulates the production of phytoplanketon, a primary product in the fish food chain. It also generates an abundnt quantity of algal photosynthesis oxygen. Fish yields are 7 tonnes per hectore per year. Such a practice is adopted in other Indian cities, Bangladesh, Combodia, Vietnam and China, Many examples can be given. |
| Means of Implementation |
StakeHolder; In Titagarh Bandipur area, the following are the stakeholders. (a)The state Govt. of West Bengal, India through Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMFS) and Kolkata Metropolitan Water and Sanitation Authority. (KMWSA) (b)Local Government (Urban) Titagarh Municipal city (c)Local government (Rural) Bandipur village council (d)Agricultural farmers (e)Fishermen for Aquaculture (f)Landowners. In Mudialy, Southwest Kolkata A fishermens Coperative is functioning efficiently who has taken lease of ponds from Kolkata Port Trust. Means; The stakholders are verymuch involved at different stages. The stabilisation tanks at Bandipur in the local project are rented out to a local farmer who normally pays about US $1200 per annum to local village council and approx $ 2750 p.a. to Kolkata Metropolitan Water and Sanitation Authority, the KMDA has provided planning and funding for treatment plant and infrastructure and provided basic operational cost and maintanance to local governments. The KMDA has this integrated along with others in Vision plan for 2025 which included wastewater recycling in urban development programme. The land owners gets a share of rent while fishermen and farmers manage themselves. Local elected committee at both local government overseas the review and monitoring process. Ideas; Indigenous technology is innovative and Kolkata is one of the pionears in utilisation of wastewater for fish and vegetable production. The conventional municipal wastewater treament consists of a combination of physical chemical and biological processes and opeations to remove solids, organic matters, pathogenous toxic materials, and sometimes nutrients from wastewater. Wastewater reclamation process includes sedimentation, filtration, biological treatment, disinfection and advanced treatment including use of chemicals. However, these are expensive. On the otherhand the sewage and wstewater fed fisheries in Kolkata constitute essentially a stage of sewage treatment system in anaerobic facultative maturation pond combination. The pond unit, each of lagoon tuype is to facilitate natural aeration through induction of shallow depth about 1.5m to allow sufficient sunlight to reach its bottom to promote growth of algae and photo-synthetic oxygen. This is fitted with inlet and outlet sluice boxes for periodical waste water sewage feed exchange from the city’s nearest drainage outfall and canals. Using aquatic plant like water hyacinth (Eich-ornia enassipes) and duckweed (Lemnacea Sp. Spriodella sp) dirt and some metals are removed and its is also purified by exposure to sunlight and aeration (Oxygenation) and occasional use of lime achieves coagulation and floculation. The high productivity of these fish ponds mainly due to rich nutrient element in waste water like nitrogen, phosphorous, potash etc. and the high alkanity stimulates production in the fish food chain. It generates abandant quantity of algael photo-synthetic oxygen found to be 0 mg/l at the inlet point to 15-20 mg/l at the outlet zone. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), a critical paameter of waste water quality is 150-180 mg/l at the inlet to about 15-32 mg/l at the outlet. East Kolkata wetlands is now included in the list of protected wetlands of the Ramsar Convention Bureau. The same indigenous techniques used in other wetlands in the metropolitan area including Titagarh-Bandipur area, mentioned above are known as community based wetland ecosystem. (CBWE) Another important aspect of Kolkata’s waste recycling is the integration of aquaculture with agriculture especially green vegetables in urban food production system. Solid waste of the city is dunped near the wetlands. Poor people seperate paper, plastic and metals and the waste is naturally composted. The natural compost is used in the production of good quality of vegetables without adding any fertiliser. The nutrient rich sewage fed waste water is used for irrigation and often sludge of wetland fisheries is used. The indigenous technology for food production out of wastewater is being adopted in a number of countries in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Vietnam etc. Costs; The cost of developing this system is minimum. The municipalities sometiems use a nominal fee for utilising waste water. The farmers and fishermen because of high productivity are ready to pay rent. However net income from urban forming depends on the following factors – farming effort (both fish & vegetables), availability and cost of basic inputs, yield as determined by technology, access to market or other buyers, ability to store, transport, process and preserve, products prices – determined by supply and demand. Initial cost was paid by the State and local government and now the farmer/fishermen are paying to the local government (minicipality) for leasehold land and tanks. |
| CSD Decision |
D-t-(ii):Improving national coordination efforts to address water and sanitation, to manage the competing demands for water, including those for agricultural production; D-d-(ix):Protecting and rehabilitating catchment areas for regulating water flows and improving water quality, taking into account the critical role of ecosystems; D-h-(iii):Training farmers and water user associations in efficient water use and sustainable agricultural land management; D-h-(i):Using efficient irrigation and rain water harvesting technologies; |
| Attachment | |
| Situation | Project |
| Target Year | With the economic growth there is unsustainable pattern of development, and with rapid urbanisation, periphery of cities is being enlarged by destroying agricultural and forest land and filling up the waterbodies. In conventional city planning wastewater is often discharged into these waterbodies creating pollution problems and solid waste is used in land filling. With the urban agriaquacultural model, seperated solid waste is composted and liquid waste is being recycled to produce fish. The periphery is becoming green and blue and more oxygen is generated. When conventional treatment plant has become expensive, “recycle, reduce and reuse” become the very words in sustainability. In Kolkata, some of these wetlands like Mudialy has become nature park, with plantations, and these attract various specis of birds also. Besides employment to the people, production of food, better land management and environment these areas have longterm role in planning and replanning of cities. There are several urban design concepts of future cities where urban agri-horti-aquaculture can be incorporated for aesthetic, functional, ecology-environmental resources as well as for food production. Besides private and community gardens and waterbodies, a greening with blue and food production plan for a city may include : a green and blue belt around cities where agro and aquafarms, forestry and livestock/poultry are developed, wedges of green with parkland and waterbodies and recreational areas, landscaped area with water and trees and periurban area and derelilict and vacant land, ponds, tanks, streams and wetland where ford production can be introduced. However, all these must be integrated into an ecological plan. Wastewater recycling should be part of integrated water resource management plan for longterm benefits and to achieve sustainability. |
| Target Area / Place | Region:Asia-Pacific Scope:City |
| Expected Outcome(S) | There are several lessons learnt from Kolkata examples (a)Wastewater can be a part of overall water resource plan especially in cities. It has many benefits, one of them is to replace freshwater supply for irrigation, aquaculture, industrial water use, landscape gardening, horticulture etc. (b)Instead of expensive wastewater treatment measures, indigenous technology can purify the waste water, with exposure to sunlight and use of aquatic plants. (c)Sewagefed wastewater can be utilised by recycle for production of fish and such water can be used with sludge and natural compost for production of vegetables. Increasingly such practice is being used in many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. (d)It provides employment and poor farmers and fishermen can organise themselves into cooperative society and it can be a best practice with multiple stakeholders. (e)It improves environment with more oxygen and controls pollution. (f)It is cost effective process. It eliminates transport, marketing and other costs. (g)It can be a tool of good land management creates a buffer zone of green and blue between urban and rural areas and leads to sustainable development. (h)Health and hygiene aspects will be a lesson also. Convenor Ms. Sumita Gupta Gangopadhyay is Associate planner, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. She is one of the planners for local projects of urban agri-aquaculture for urban food production. She at Centre for Built Environment organised international conference and was part of training programme in waste water recycling. She has given lectures, written papers etc. and appeared on the television. As similar projects are being taken up in many Asian, African and Latin American Countries, the session will make presentation of similar local actions in other coountries by invited speakers. Tentative programme A tentative list of possible speakers and panelist : (maximum 5), yet to be confirmed total 120 minutes Introductory from Convenor Ms. Sumita Gupta Gangopadhyay, Convenor Associate Planner, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority Wastewater for urban agriculture Kolkata with indigenous system and Resoruce Recovery with public participation. Speakes and panelists (maximum 4 – 60 minutes) 1.Prof. Santosh Ghosh President, Centre for Built Environment Urban Agri-aquaculture in regeneration of cities 2.Mr. Christopher Scott, (to be requested) a Beacon for framework Dialogue for Water, Food environment (IWMI) Urban wastewater for crop production in Mexico. 3.Mr. Jac Smit The Urban Agricultural Network (TGAN) Washington DC, USA. Aquaculture and Urban Agriculture – for food, job and environment 4.Dr. Vu Quet Thang Research Centre for Environment & Sustainable Development, Hanoi University of Science, Hanoi, Vietnam. Health and hygiene aspects of waste water based aquaculture, food production and environment in Hanoi, Vietnam. 5.Dr. Julio Moscoso Cavallini CEPS, Pan American Health Orgaisation Lima, Peru. “Recycling of Waste Water in Latin American Cities” Audio Visual (10 minutes) Discussion (30 minutes) Conclusion (10 minutes) Kolkata Metropolitan Deelopment Authority, a Govt. undertaking is responsible for planning and development. It has recently taken up urban agriculture including waste water utilisation. Convenor, a senior planner of the authority is associated with the centre (CBE) since its inception. Centre for Built Environment (CBE) is a voluntary professional society (non profit) for sustainable development. CBE is a collaborater. |
| Relevance to the Plan of Implementation of WSSD |
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| Progress | |
| Link | |
| Other Information |
Type of Action; Isolated Relevant Agencies; Government,Multilateral,Civil,NGO Orientation; Corrective/Preventive Replicability; No 4th World Water Forum: Local Actions ID; LA0017 Forum Secretariat Recommendation ; No Kyoto Prize Finalist; No Presented in Sessions; Yes Original Language; English |
| Contact Person | Sumita Gupta Gangopadhyay |
| Position | Ms. Sumita Gupta Gangopadhyay is Associate Planner, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, a State Govt of West Bengal (India) organisation responsible for planning and development of metropolitan region (Area 1800 sq km, population 15 million) and providing guidance to large number of local municipal and nonmunicipal governments. Ms. Gupta Gangopadhyay has Bachelor of Architecture (1974) from Bengal Engineering College, Calcutta University, India. Master of city planning (1977) from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India and Master of Science in planning (1983) from Rutgers State University, New Jersey, USA. She was Research Assistant at Rutgers State University and for sometime Research officer, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. She is associate member of Institute of Town planners (India), Indian Institute of Architects and founder-member, Centre of Built Environment. Ms. Gupta Gangopadhyay is involved in landuse planning and preparation of various project reports and vision plan for Calcutta (now Kolkata) 2025. One of the areas in which she has specialised is urban agri-aquaculture utilising waste both liquid and solid in the periphery of metropolitan area and she is able to include this as a component of landuse in urban development plan. She was one of the coordinators for organising International workshop on urban agriculture and sustainable environment in Calcutta in December, 1995, organised by Centre for Built Environment and the Urban Agriculture Network, Washington DC, USA. This was supported by the World Bank and the United Nations. Ms. Gupta Gangopadhyay was part of training programme in wastewater recycling for fish production in eastern wetlands in Calcutta, especially with Mudiali Fishermen’s Cooperative Society. Ms. Gupta Gangopadhyay is one of the planners for the succesful implementation of a multistake holder project on resource recovery from waste water, creation of better environment and provision of employment etc. in a local municipality within metropolitan Kolkata. Ms. Gupta Gangopadhyay’s paper “Integrated Resource Recovery project in Kolkata, India” was published in Urban Agriculture Megazine, No 8, December 2002 special issue on wastewater use for urban agriculture, she wrote paper in Journal of Institute of Town Planners (India) and spoke in conferences such as Centre for Urban Economic Studies and on television. His other papers include Integrated Resource Recovery System at 2nd Asia Pacific Hydrology and Water Resource conferences, Singapore, July 2004 and Sustainable Megacities - Urban Agri-aquaculture in periurban areas at World Sustainable Buildings conference, Tokyo, September’ 05. |
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