Revitalisation of Kalighat

Our first engagement was a fund for environmental improvement, beautification and rehabilitation initiated by the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. Involving a multiplicity of stakeholders, our involvement tried to operationalise a process of negotiated development that safeguards different interests and creates trajectories of holistic improvement of the area. 
Our recent engagement (2018) in the complex was initiated by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation who wanted to comply with the Calcutta High Court order that mentions that the temple be cleared of all obstructions (majorly small dala shops) and creation of alternate provisions for the rehabilitation. We developed a preliminary revitalisation plan for the area, which has been accepted and divided into phases. The main strategies for this phase involved – rehabilitation of dala shops, increase in temple precinct space and adequate service upgradation. The proposed temple would be made safe and secure with proper delineations, access points and crowd management mechanisms. Once this idea was presented to the stakeholder groups, all groups understood the potential benefits and accepted the suggestion.
Location: Kumartuli, Kolkata
Client: WBTDC, KMC 
Year: 2009, 2017