Commuting and Metropolitan Development of Kolkata

Abstract

The role of suburban commuting has scarcely been researched in depth in the growth and development of Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Existing research on KMA cites decentralized planning, increasing land values and consequent shortage of housing in Kolkata city as the major factors behind its development. The important role played by suburban railways and the enhanced facilities of commuting have not attracted as much attention despite their immense contributions to the development of this metropolitan region. This study investigates the role of suburban train commuting in the metropolitan development of Kolkata. Based on both primary and secondary data, and using indicators such as suburban passenger data, number of suburban local trains and growth of suburban railway infrastructures, this paper reveals that in the immediate post-Independence period, KMA experienced a more diffused pattern of urban development. The research explains how commuting has changed the entire landscape by attracting people from interior rural areas to settle along the suburban rail routes, following which an integrated metropolitan area of Kolkata has developed.

Full text

Hill Geographer Vol . XXXIII: 2(2017) / ISSN 0970-5023 61
Hill Geographer
XXXIII:2 (2017), 61-79
ISSN 0970-5723
Research Paper
Commuting and metropolitan development of Kolkata
Bhaswati Mondal* and Gopa Samanta
Department of Geography, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal
*Corresponding author: bhaswatimondal11@gmail.com
Abstract
The role of suburban commuting has scarcely been researched in depth in the growth and
development of Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Existing research on KMA cites decentralized
planning, increasing land values and consequent shortage of housing in Kolkata city as
the major factors behind its development. The important role played by suburban railways
and the enhanced facilities of commuting have not attracted as much attention despite
their immense contributions to the development of this metropolitan region. This study
investigates the role of suburban train commuting in the metropolitan development of
Kolkata. Based on both primary and secondary data, and using indicators such as suburban
passenger data, number of suburban local trains and growth of suburban railway
infrastructures, this paper reveals that in the immediate post-Independence period, KMA
experienced a more diffused pattern of urban development. The research explains how
commuting has changed the entire landscape by attracting people from interior rural areas
to settle along the suburban rail routes, following which an integrated metropolitan area of
Kolkata has developed.
Key words: Commuting, Kolkata metropolitan area, urbanization, suburban railway
Introduction
During the colonial period, the pattern of Indian urbanization was characterized by skewed
development of urban pockets around the few metropolitan cities of the country, and Kolkata
in Eastern India was no exception. After the Independence, the population in the peripheral
areas of these metropolitan cities started to grow at a much faster rate than the metro cities.
Most scholars have focused on different reasons behind this phenomenon, but commuting is

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scarcely included in such factors. Commuting is a distinct form of spatial mobility, which
connects home and workspace without relocating workers’ residence. Commuting has been
defined differently by various researchers (Mahbub, 1997). In short, it is the circular movement
over a day (Mondal and Samanta, 2015). According to Stutzer and Frey (2007: 1), the decision
of commuting ‘is determined by an equilibrium state of housing and labour market in which
individual’s wellbeing or utility is equalized over all combinations of alternatives in these two
markets.’ After the Second World War, especially during the post-Independence period, the
transport sector in developing countries was improved. Improved transport facilitates the scope
of commuting for the workers (Mieszkowski and Mills, 1993; Mahbub, 1997; Levinson, 1998;
Green et al., 1999; Klis and Mulder, 2008; Parida and Madheswaran, 2010; Chandrasekhar,
2011; AASHTO, 2013; Tiwari, 2015). Commuting facilitates workers living in small and medium
towns and/or in rural areas to work in the metro cities. The smaller centres sometimes attract
more people than the metro cities (Lewis and Maund, 1976) because of their lower land
values compared to the latter (Yao and Wang, 2014), along with the facility of commuting.
This increases population in the suburbs and in the peripheries of the metro cities. Thus,
commuting ‘has been the catalyst for the spatial rearrangement of society, communities and
economic life…Towns within proximity to regional centres appear to gravitate towards regional
centres and have formed an economic relationship where the interaction between these towns
and regional centres has created functional regions’ (Wilkinson and Butt, 2013: 75–76).
The present research explores the role of suburban train commuting in the post-
Independence urbanization of Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA), the largest metropolitan
area in Eastern India. During this period, the pattern of urbanization followed a diffused trend.
New migrants were attracted by the less dense fringe areas, offering a relatively low land
value than the inner cities and better commuting facilities. Diffused urbanization policies were
also taken up by the government through the formation of a separate administrative authority
called the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) in 1970. Although other
factors such as differential population density and differential land values in the city core and
peripheries, and the government’s decentralization policies have been studied in detail (see
Chatterjee, 1992; Roy, 2005; Shaw, 2012; Karmakar, 2016), commuting has unfortunately
remains an under-researched one.
Unlike in developed countries, there are very limited sources of data on commuting in
India. Commuting data has only recently started being collected at the government level. The
first district-wise data on commuters’ modal split was published in 2011 by the Census of
India. Although the statistics published by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO)
on commuters across rural–urban areas is available for a certain time, it gives only the broad
regional pattern. As there is limited published data on commuting in India, the present study
has been conducted on the basis of data directly collected from official sources on the growing
volume of suburban traffic in different suburban railway stations within the KMA, increasing
numbers of commuter trains, number of coaches employed in each commuter train to support
the growing traffic, increasing income of suburban railways, and so on. Secondary data were
collected from the Census of India, Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, Government
of West Bengal, West Bengal Department of Municipal Affairs, Kolkata Metropolitan
Development Authority, Indian Railways, Eastern Railways and South Eastern Railways.

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Primary data were collected through field surveys. The study shows how the increasing facility
of transport has helped to enhance commuting thus leading to densification of population in the
fringe areas at a much faster rate than in the core areas of Kolkata Metropolis.
The study area
KMA is the largest metropolitan area in Eastern India and the third largest in India (14.7
million), next only to the National Capital Region (46 million) and Mumbai Metropolitan Area
(20.7 million). It spreads over an area of 1851.41 km2 with three Municipal Corporations
under its jurisdiction including Kolkata Municipal Corporation itself, 38 Municipalities, 73 Census
Towns, 17 out–growths and 445 villages. With a population density of around 8000 per km2,
this is the densest metropolitan area in India. KMA extends over six districts of South Bengal,
namely Kolkata, Nadia, N. 24-Paraganas and South 24-Paraganas on the eastern bank of the
Hugli River and Haora and Hugli [1] on the western bank (Fig. 1). The Corporation covers the
whole of Kolkata district. KMA has three major component areas: a) conurbation stretching
along the Hugli River, b) the eastern and south-eastern peripheral cities, and c) rural areas
encircling the cities. If all these cities are taken together, then four clusters of cities can be
identified: a) along the eastern bank of the Hugli River, b) along the western bank of the Hugli
River, c) in the eastern periphery and d) in the southern periphery (Appendix-1). Out of the six
municipal corporations of West Bengal, three municipal corporations, namely Kolkata, Haora
and Chandannagar belong to the conurbation of KMA. These three municipal corporations
accommodate nearly 40 per cent of the population of the metropolitan area in only 15 per cent
area of KMA (Appendix 2). More than 75 per cent of the total population of this metropolitan
area is concentrated in the eastern bank districts. Kolkata and N. 24-Paraganas together
contribute more than 65 per cent of the population of the KMA. Out of a total of 41 cities of
KMA, 27 lie in the eastern bank districts (Appendix-3). Moreover, the cities on the eastern
bank are much larger in size. Kolkata district is completely urbanized. In N. 24-Paraganas,
there are 25 cities of which 21 lie in the KMA. In terms of city-size distribution, of a total 41
cities within the KMA, 37 are class–I cities. The rural areas surrounding the municipalities
cover more than 40 per cent of this metropolitan area. These areas are experiencing rapid
changes in demography, transport and economy.
The development of today’s KMA is a historic phenomenon spanning nearly 500 years.
The principal city of Kolkata was developed much later to include some of the cities lying
adjacently north of it. The concept of KMA was first introduced by the Calcutta Metropolitan
Planning Area (Use and Development of Land Control Act 1965). The master plans of four
super metropolises of India namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai were prepared in
mid-60s and late 70s. From 1960s, the policy makers began to be concerned about the over–
populated urban areas and initiated a policy of diffused growth. In 1963, the central council of
local self government and state ministers developed policy for decentralized urbanization. It
focused on promotion of notified urban areas and of census towns into urban status and also
sought to delimit the bigger cities (Karmakar, 2015). Kolkata Metropolitan Development
Authority (KMDA) was established in 1970 under a Presidential ordinance. With the enactment
of the West Bengal town and country (Planning and Development) Act in 1979, KMDA was
designated as the statutory planning and development authority for KMA. It plays a crucial
role in the overall development programmes of the area.

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Fig. 1: Kolkata metropolitan area
Source: Composed by the Authors, 2017
Growth trajectories of KMA
Eastern India is the least urbanized part of the country. Kolkata Urban Agglomeration (KUA)
is the largest urban agglomeration (UA) and KMA is the largest metropolitan area in Eastern
India. Till 1991, it was the largest metropolitan area in the country. However, the process of
urbanization in KMA started almost 500 years ago- much before the colonialists arrived in
India. It started with a trade-based economy along the Ganga River (the lower reach of which
is known as the Hugli). Following Chatterjee (1992), the urbanization history of KMA can be
discussed in four phases (Figure 2):
i) Pre-colonial (Before 1757)
ii) Colonial–I (1757 to 1857)
iii) Colonial–II (1857 to 1947)
iv) Post-Independence (1947 onwards)
In the pre-colonial period, i.e., before 1757, a number of compact settlements prospered
along the Hugli River as water-borne transport was the main mode of trading then. Large
barges and cargoes could easily reach Kanchrapara on the eastern bank and Tribeni on the
western bank without any dredging. This is the most important reason why KMA extends up
to Bansberia on the west and Kanchrapara on the eastern bank of the Hugli River towards the
north even today (Chatterjee, 1992). A number of trade centres, namely Tribeni, Bansberia
(Bansabati), Saptagram (Satgaon), Bandel, Kashim Bazar, Chandannagar, Bhadreswar,
Baidyabati, Bhatpara, Kanchrapara (Kanchanpally), Garifa, and Uluberia started prospering
from this period. Baruipur was the only town located away from the Hugli River, which
developed as a trading centre of betel leaves.

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Fig. 2: Phases of urbanization of Kolkata metropolitan area
Source: Composed by the Authors, 2017
In the first phase of the colonial period, from 1757 to 1857, urban growth was supported
by a number of European colonialists who settled their business along the Hugli River. Hugli
(Portuguese), Chinsurah (Dutch), Chandannagar (French), Serampore (Danish), Kolkata
(British) developed as important colonies. Serampore and Kolkata were the only two cities
developed by this time. In the second phase of colonial India, from 1857 to 1947, the British
expanded their empire and started the process of industrialization. They constructed railways
to connect the jute belts of Hugli, the coal belts of Raniganj and tea belts of Assam with the
capital city of Kolkata. Majority of the cities of the present-day KMA flourished in this period
(Fig. 2). Post-Independence urbanization followed a decentralized pattern. The role of suburban
railways and the resultant commuting which bear important roles in the evolution and growth
of cities in this phase will be discussed in the subsequent sections.
Commuting and metropolitan expansion
Commuting is a significant form of short spatial mobility. It helps workers to link their workplaces
with their residences daily (Ommeren et al., 1997). It ‘plays a causal role in the process of
adjusting between residence and workplace’ (Punpuing, 1993: 527). Thus, participation in the
workforce does not divert commuters from their household duties. With the improvement in
accessibility and connectivity, commuting has become an important substitute to migration in

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most parts of the world (Mahbub, 1997; Deshingkar and Anderson, 2004; Klis and Mulder,
2008). Rural-to-urban commuting is one of the key components of rural–urban integration.
This does not impose additional costs of housing in urban areas and workers can balance both
their work-space and home-space on a daily basis. It reduces the population pressure on the
existing urban infrastructure. The population of rural areas may grow without the growth of
local job centres and thus a broad functional region is developed (Mondal, 2015). This rural-to-
urban linking has brought enormous changes in the population size and occupational structure
in rural areas surrounding the metropolises.
Post-Independence India witnessed growth in non-farm work and improvement in the
transport sector. Commuting is positively related to non-farm work opportunities (Krishnamurty,
1984; Lanjouw and Lanjouw, 2001; Ellis and Harris, 2004; Himanshu and Stern, 2011; Mondal,
2015). Availability of good transport to access non-farm work increases the possibility of
commuting. By Independence, workers were no longer required to stay in the metro cities,
basically for two reasons. First, the electrification in suburban railways added a new dimension
to mobility. It reduced workers’ time distance. They could easily reach their offices in metro
cities in one or two hours’ journey. It facilitated their ability to come back to their families after
a day’s work in the cities. Second, in the meantime, the core metro cities were already over-
populated. For example, Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) had a population density of more than
12,000 per km2 in 1941. The land values in the core city were also very high. Therefore, living
in the suburbs was a better option. Due to the facility of commuting, population in the suburbs
rapidly increased within a short time. Several new urban centres came up. Thus, the boundary
of the metropolitan area expanded at pace with the commuting workers in this period. Within
the present limits of KMA, twelve cities developed in the post-Independence period (Fig. 2).
Development of suburban railways
Although railways in Eastern India were opened by the British East India Company in 1854,
much before the Independence, electrification of railways started only in 1958. This
revolutionized the transport history of Bengal. It reduced the time distance to just one hour for
a distance of 50 km away from Kolkata. This led to the concept of suburban railways also
known as commuter rail or regional rail playing an important role in the public transport system.
Suburban rail is defined as a rail service between a central business district and its suburbs, a
conurbation or other locations that draw large numbers of people daily (Ministry of Railways,
2014). The trains providing such services may be termed suburban trains often called local
trains or simply locals. Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly electric multiple
units (EMUs). They usually have nine or twelve coaches and sometimes, even fifteen to
handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general
coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units, having one power car at each end
and one at the middle. Eastern India has 923 km suburban rail route-the longest suburban rail
route in India-and carries about 2,800,000 commuters daily, the third largest suburban traffic
volume in the country (Ministry of Railways, 2014).
The Kolkata suburban rail network (Fig. 3) is the largest suburban rail network in
Eastern India. It is served by Howrah and Sealdah divisions of Eastern Railways and Kharagpur
division of South-Eastern Railways. Kolkata Metro Rail is also part of this suburban rail network.

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Kolkata is the headquarters of all the three. Howrah and Sealdah are the two major terminals.
Howrah station operates both Eastern and South-Eastern Railways, while Sealdah station
operates only Eastern Railways. There are 364 stations in the Kolkata suburban rail network,
of which more than 100 lie within the jurisdiction limits KMDA. The number of stations is
increasing each year. There are 28 junction stations in KMA.
Fig. 3: Kolkata suburban railway network
This large suburban rail network of Kolkata is a result of increasing suburban passengers
since the 1960s. With the majority of the suburban passengers being commuters, suburban
passenger data are taken as supplementary data to commuting. Number of passengers is
counted on the basis of ticket sales. Till the 1960s, the non-suburban commuters outnumbered
the suburban passengers. This was because till then, railways were expanded with the aim of
connecting the major raw material producing areas with the Kolkata market. But after
electrification of suburban rail lines, passenger mobility increased rapidly. It made commuting
popular. In 1970, suburban passengers constituted more than half of the total passengers in
India (Table 1) and this number continued to increase till the beginning of the twenty-first
century. Mukhopadhyay (2003) has shown that suburban passengers at all India level increased
by 448 per cent, while non-suburban passengers increased only by 83 per cent during 1950
and 1990. The growth has been identical with increase in passenger kilometres, suburban

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passengers kilometre increasing by 809 per cent compared to 294 per cent by non-suburban
passengers.
Table 1 India: passenger traffic (in %)
Years 1960–61 1970–71 1980–81 1990–91 2000–01 2010–11 2011–12
Non-suburban 57.34 49.86 44.64 41.45 40.80 46.92 46.77
Suburban 42.66 50.14 55.36 58.55 59.20 53.08 53.23
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Source: Ministry of railways, 2014: 2
More than 1,700,000 commuters travel daily by the Kolkata suburban railway. About
90 per cent of these commuters utilize the Eastern Railways. Their number is increasing each
year and the rate of increase is much faster in the Eastern Railways than the South-Eastern
Railways (Table 2). This is because the Eastern Railways serve a greater route length (in
kms). One part of Eastern Railways which is operated by the Howrah division runs along the
Hugli River through the conurbations connecting cities like Serampore, Seoraphuli,
Chandannagore and Bandel consisting of huge number who work in Kolkata. Another part of
Eastern Railways which is operated by Sealdah division runs through the eastern and south-
eastern fringe of the metropolitan area connecting cities like Bongaon, Basirhat, Barasat,
Hasnabad, Lakshmikantapur, Diamond Harbour and Baruipur. Many of these cities have
developed along Bangladesh border. After the partition, large-scale immigration from Bangladesh
has had a strong impact on the development of these cities. The new immigrants depended on
Kolkata for their livelihood, thus increasing the number of commuters.
Table 2: Growth of passengers in Kolkata suburban railway
Years Average Weekday (in Thousand Hundreds)
Eastern Railway South Eastern Railway Total
2000–2001 14.30 2.00 16.30
2001–2002 14.50 2.00 16.50
2002–2003 14.70 2.01 16.70
2003–2004 14.90 2.01 16.91
2004–2005 15.00 2.01 17.01
2005–2006 15.20 2.01 17.01
Source: KMA report, August, 2008: 53
According to the Chief Public Relation Officer of Eastern Railways, between 1980-
81 and 2010-11, suburban passengers in Howrah division grew by 132 per cent while non-
suburban passengers grew sluggishly by 24 per cent only. The Howrah–Barddhaman main
line is the oldest suburban rail route in Eastern India and second oldest in the country. According
to the Booking Supervisor General of Howrah Station, about 70 per cent of the commuters
using this station [2] belong to this rail line. There are 34 stations and each day 92 pairs of

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EMU local trains run between different stations. The last ten years’ average weekday passenger
data for each station on this line shows that commuter numbers are very high (Fig.4) within
the jurisdiction of the KMA i.e. up to Magra station. Originating traffic drops sharply beyond
this. Because of the easy transport and direct linkage with Kolkata, the population in these
areas grew rapidly, depending on the non-farm economy of Kolkata.
Fig. 4: Daily average passengers of Howrah-Barddhaman main line during last ten years
Source: DRM Office, Eastern Railway
To serve the huge and ever increasing commuters, Eastern Railways has introduced
shuttle service at intervals of 15 to 30 minutes, which run up to Bandel, the last railway station of
the KMA on the Howrah–Barddhaman main line (Fig. 4). In contrast, the Barddhaman-bound
local trains run at an average of one hour interval. Eastern and South-Eastern Railways presently
run 1,272 and 178 EMU local trains daily. Railway authorities consider the period between 8:30
and 10:30 hrs as morning peak hours, and 16:30 and 19:30 hrs as evening peak hours experiencing
maximum number of commuters travelling to and from work respectively. Frequency of trains is
increased during the peak hours. In the morning peak hours, 36 trains leave Howrah station.
Among these, 31 are local trains. Between 2009 and 2014, four new suburban local trains have
been added for the peak hours, but no additional express or passenger trains during that period
has been added. Besides trains, the number of rakes has also been increased to accommodate
the rush of passengers. In Eastern Railways, most of the suburban local trains have 12 coaches
during peak hours. ER has 144 rakes which are run many a times in different routes. Thus a total
1272 EMU service is available daily in suburban section of ER (Table 3).

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Table 3: Number of rakes and electric multiple units service per day in different zones of India
Zones No. of Rakes Rake length EMU service/
in Service Day
9 Car 10 Car 12 Car
Eastern Railway 144 64 19 61 1272
South Eastern Railway 32 27 0 05 178
Source: Ministry of railways, 2014: 4
With increasing volume of commuters, the earnings of the railways, especially sub-
urban segment, have also increased. At the all-India level, in 1950–51 and 1990–91, the increase
was more than 5000 per cent (Mukhopadhyay, 2003). In the last 30 years, from 1980–81 to
2010–11, the suburban passenger earning in Howrah division increased by 1453 per cent
(Howrah Division, 2016). Due to the growing significance of commuting, 62 per cent of the
total industrial investments in KMA between 1995 and 2010 were for the transport and
communication sector (Shaw, 2012).
Post-independence urban expansion
In the post-Independence period, suburban railways were electrified and many new roads
were constructed, thus increasing the facilities of commuting. Increasing accessibility and
scope for commuting to Kolkata facilitated population growth in the peripheral areas. During
this period, twelve cities were developed mostly in peripheries of KMA. Of these eight are
directly served by suburban railways (Fig. 5 and Table 4). Some cities like Bally, Uttarpara-
Kotrung and Kalyani are served by more than one railway stations (Appendix 4). The remaining
towns, namely, Gayeshpur, Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Bidhannagar and Pujali have no suburban railway
stations within the city-limit, but they lie at average five kilometres distances from their nearest
railway stations (Appendix 4). In fact, Gayeshpur developed because of the increasing facility
of connectivity to Kolkata through suburban railways – Kalyani station in the north-west and
Kanchrapara station in the west. Although Kalyani and Bidhanagar have no indigenous city
growth history but suburban railways played an important role in the planning of these two
cities to relieve the increasing pressure of Kolkata city. Different government departments
were established and some departments were shifted there. A separate university was set up
in Kalyani to reduce the pressure on Calcutta University. In 1954, Chandmari Halt was renamed
Kalyani and in 1979, another segment of railways was extended from Kalyani station to Kalyani
Simanta with two intermediate stations: Kalyani Shilapanchal and Kalyani Ghoshpara. By this
time, population grew rapidly in Kalyani. During 1961 and 1971, population growth rate was
nearby 297 per cent (Appendix 5). Other cities like Madhyamgram, New Barrackpore,
Uttarpara-Kotrung developed under the direct influence of suburban railways development.
For the increasing facilities drawn by commuting, population in the peripheries of the
metropolitan areas grew at a much faster rate than the metro core areas (Table 5). In the
KMA, the metro core which includes KMC and Haora MC is facing declining population
growth rate, while its peripheries are experiencing faster population growth, thus increasing
the difference between the two over time (Karmakar, 2015). This core–periphery divide
highlights the significance of the peripheral areas of KMA. During 1951 and 2011, population

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density has increased only 1.5 times in the KMC while population density has increased 31
times in Rajpur–Sonarpur town located in the southern periphery. Similarly, in North Dum
Dum and Barasat, located in the eastern periphery, population density has increased more
than 20 times and 17 times respectively. Besides, there are many other cities located in the
periphery such as Dum Dum, South Dum Dum, Kalyani, Panihati, Khardaha, Baruipur and
Baidyabati, where population density has increased more than 5 times. These newly urbanized
areas have emerged as lucrative residential areas because of their open spaces, relatively low
land values, congestion and pollution free environment. Along with these, the facility of
commuting to metro core while living in the periphery was the most important reason. This
diffused urbanisation has been possible due to commuting.
Table 4: Kolkata suburban railways and post-independent cities
Suburban Railways Number of Cities Name of the Cities
Howrah – Barddhaman 3 Bally, Uttarpara-Kotrung,
via Main Chandannagar
Howrah – Panskura 1 Uluberia
Sealdah – Ranaghat 1 Kalyani
Sealdah – Bongaon 2 New Barrackpore, Madhyamgram
Sealdah – Budge Budge 1 Maheshtala
Source: Computed by the authors, 2017
Fig. 5: Peripheral growth of cities in the post-independence period
Source: Composed by the authors, 2017

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Table 5: Population growth rate in core and periphery areas of KMA
Year Core Periphery Difference
1981–1991 0.64 1.72 1.08
1991–2001 0.40 1.82 1.42
2001–2011 -0.19 1.09 1.28
Source: Karmakar, 2015: 171
As a result of the increasing population size and density, the size–class distribution of
the cities also changed over time (Appendix 6). In the 1951 census, there was no class-I city
among the cities developed after the Independence. In 2011, there are nine class-I cities listed.
Among them, Bidhannagar and Rajarhat–Gopalpur had witnessed sudden spurt in population.
Both Bidhannagar and Haldia were class–III towns until 1981. Within a decade, these two
attained the status of class–I city, implying addition of at least 50,000 population in each. The
land values too witnessed substantial increase in these peripheral cities. A survey conducted
by a real estate company showed that in just three years, i.e. 2007 and 2010, land values
increased by 150 per cent in the northern fringes of Kolkata, such as in Madhyamgram, along
the Jessore Road and B. T. Road as well as in Narendrapur–Baruipur area in the southern
fringes (Sen, 2011). Due to this unprecedented increase in significance of the peripheral areas,
KMDA invests planning costs almost equally in the core and the periphery. Of a total INR
3,181,790 million invested in 1995 and 2010, INR 1,367,090 million (43 per cent) was invested
for the peripheral region (Shaw, 2012).
Table 6: Percentage share of train commuters commuting beyond 20 km
Places 21–30 km 31–50 km > 50 km
West Bengal 35.81 65.34 71.59
Nadia 36.71 79.76 90.06
N. 24–Paraganas 50.61 83.53 83.01
S. 24–Paraganas 56.14 81.23 78.90
Kolkata 12.11 19.78 39.93
Haora 18.45 49.39 63.92
Hugli 63.59 91.39 83.30
Source: Calculated by the authors based on Census of India, 2011
It is found that the cities on the eastern bank of the Hugli River are much larger in size
compared to those on the western bank. Decadal population growth rate is also faster in the
eastern section. As mentioned earlier, this disparity in size is largely a result of rapid immigration
following partition of the country mostly affecting areas in close proximity to Indo–Bangladesh
border. In Madhyamgram and New Barrackpore, population grew rapidly after 1970s (Appendix
4). These landless migrants depended on non–farm jobs in Kolkata and its adjoining areas thus
raising the number of commuters. Between 2000 and 2010, as many as 278 million new
commuters were added from the eastern bank districts of KMA, whereas it was only 99
million from the western bank (Dhar, 2014). Local trains play a significant role in transportation
in the eastern part. Over 90 per cent commuters of Nadia district use trains as their principal

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mode of transport to commute distances of more than 50 km. To cover the same distance,
over 83 per cent commuters of N. 24–Paraganas and about 79 per cent commuters of S. 24–
Paraganas use trains (Table 6). Of the eastern bank districts, Hugli district records the highest
percentage figure. Without trains, people face much trouble in commuting because commuters
find bus journey to be painful and these consume much time also (Bhattacharya and Maitra,
2015). To commute the same distance, nearly 83 per cent commuters of Hugli district use
trains. To serve the commuters of eastern bank districts, Sealdah division runs nearly 300 pairs
of EMU locals in different rail-routes.
Fig. 6: Suburbanization as a result of improved transport
Source: Composed by the authors, 2017
Conclusion
This research shows that commuting plays an important role in population mobilization, locational
integration and metropolitanization. It performs a catalytic role in population de-concentration
from the metro cities by facilitating people living in rural and/or in suburban areas to engage in
urban jobs. The consequent urbanization results not only in suburbanization but also in the
evolution of small and medium towns (Fig. 6). Iyer (2017) has also noted similar kinds of
localized urbanization in his empirical study in Karnataka. All these newly formed towns and
villages connected to the metro city through the regular flow of people, power, goods, capital
and information (Tacoli, 2003) lead to strengthening of the functional region of larger cities,
diluting the division between rural and urban (Shah, 2012).

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Commuting also acts as a key driving force in regional restructuring through
decentralized urban growth. This decentralization hypothesis has gained much popularity among
the academicians and the planners (Lewis, 1967; Tacoli, 1998; Kundu et. al., 2002; CSD,
2014) who propose a diffused urbanization policy for a balanced regional development. Such
a planning strategy is useful both for rural and urban development. For the rural area, commuting
creates employment opportunities even while living in villages, increases their access to markets
and exposure to the urban social and cultural environment (Roy, 2005; Purushothaman, 2007).
For the urban area, it reduces the ever increasing pressure of population on housing, transport
and urban environment (Sharma, 2012). To explain the impact of increasing rural–urban
connectivity on urban development Dasgupta (1987: 276) noted, ‘urban development to be
effective has to maintain a certain harmony with development in the rural hinterland’.
In commute studies, the role of transport is found to be very significant. This empirical
research shows that after the commencement of suburban local trains in the Kolkata suburban
area, the number of commuters rapidly increased. The facility of commute-to-work increased
the importance of peripheral areas of KMA. Many new cities grew within and around KMA.
Formation of the peripheral cities has decreased the pressure on Kolkata city, especially in
housing. Moreover, these newly born cities have emerged as the focal points of growth within
their rural hinterlands (Samanta, 2001; Paul, 2012; Das and Samanta, 2015; Sen, 2015).
Commuting thus has the potential of being a future regional development agenda for better,
balanced urban development to counter metropolitanization and big city urban agglomeration
in India. For this, a well-integrated and performing transport network is the only alternative.
Notes
[1] There are many differences in spellings used by Census of India and Indian Railways (IR). For
example, Census spells ‘Haora’ while Railways Authority spells it ‘Howrah’. Similarly, there are differences
in ‘Hugli’ (Census) and ‘Hooghly’ (IR); ‘Serampore’ (Census) and ‘Srirampur’ (IR); ‘Chinsuarh’ (Census)
and ‘Chuchura’(IR) etc. In this article, to refer the cities, spellings used by Census Authority have been
followed while to refer the stations, spellings used by Indian Railways have been followed.
[2] Howrah station operates both Eastern Railway (Howrah Division) and South Eastern Railway
(Kharagpur Division).
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Appendix 1: Distribution of cities in KMA
Location Cities
Along the western bank Haora Municipal Corporation, Chandannagar Municipal Corporation,
of the Hugli River Bansberia, Hugli–Chinsurah, Bhadreswar, Chapdani, Baidyabati,
Serampore, Rishra, Konnagar, Uttarpara, Bally, Uluberia
Along the eastern bank Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Kalyani, Gayeshpur, Kanchrapara,
of the Hugli River Halishahar, Naihati, Bhatpara, Garulia, North Barrackpore, Barrackpore,
Titagarh, Khardaha, Panihati, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Maheshtala,
Budge Budge
On the eastern periphery Barasat, Madhyamgram, New Barrackpore, North Dum Dum, Dum Dum,
Rajarhat, Gopalpur, South Dum Dum, Bidhannagar (Salt Lake City)
On the southern periphery Sonarpur–Rajpur, Baruipur, Pujali
Source: Computed by the authors, 2016
Appendix 2: Distribution of area and population in KMA
Categories Area (%) Population (%)
Municipal Corporations 14.7 39.0
Municipalities 33.2 45.1
Census Towns 10.8 7.2
Out-Growths 1.0 
Rural Area 40.3 8.7
Total 100 100
Source: Calculated from city development plan, KMDA, 2006
Appendix 3: District-wise distribution of cities in KMA
Districts Cities
Eastern bank Nadia Kalyani, Gayeshpur
districts North Kanchrapara, Halishahar, Naihati, Bhatpara, Garulia, North
24– Paraganas Barrackpore, Barrackpore, Titagarh, Khardaha, Panihati,
Kamarhati, Baranagar, Barasat, Madhyamgram, New Barrackpore,
North Dum Dum, Dum Dum, Rajahat, Gopalpur, South Dum Dum,
Bidhannagar (Salt Lake City)
Kolkata Kolkata MC
South Maheshtala, Budge Budge, Piyali, Sonarpur– Rajpur, Baruipur
24–Paraganas
Western bank Haora Hoara MC, Bally, Uluberia
districts Hugli Chandannagar MC,Bansberia, Hugli– Chinsurah, Bhadreswar,
Chapdani, Baidyabati, Serampore, Rishra, Konnagar, Uttarpara
Source: Computed by the authors, 2016

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Appendix 4: Kolkata suburban railways and post-independent cities of KMA
Cities Districts Suburban Nearest Name of Year of Year of
Railways Station the Station Electrification Establish-
(km) ment of ULBs
Kalyani Nadia Sealdah- 0 Kalyani 1963 1995
Ranaghat Kalyani S.
Gayeshpur Nadia Sealdah- 6.5 Kalyani 1963 1995
Ranaghat
New Barrackpore N. 24- Sealdah- 0 New 1963-64 1965
Paraganas Bongaon Barrackpore
Madhyamgram N. 24- Sealdah- 0 Madhyamgram 1963-64 1993
Paraganas Bongaon
Rajarhat- N. 24- - 6 Biman 1963-64 1993-94
Gopalpur Paraganas Bunder
Bidhannagar N. 24- Sealdah Main 1 Bidhannagar 1963-64 1989
Paraganas
Maheshtala S. 24- Sealdah- 0 Akra 1965-66 1993
Paraganas Budge Budge
Pujali S. 24- Sealdah- 9 Budge Budge 1965-66 1993
Paraganas Budge Budge
Uluberia Haora Howrah- 0 Uluberia 1967-69 1982
Panskura
Bally Haora Howrah- 0 Bally Jn., Belur, 1958 1985
Barddhaman Raghunath-pur
Main and Chord
Uttarpara- Hugli Howrah- 0 Uttarpara, 1958 1964
Kotrung Barddhaman Main Hindmotor,
Chandannagr Hugli Howrah- 0 1958 1994
Barddhaman Main
Source: Computed by the authors, 2017
Appendix 5: Decadal population growth rate (in %) in cities developed in post-independence period
Cities GR_41 GR_51 GR_61 GR_71 GR_81 GR_91 GR_2001
to 51 to 61 to 71 to 81 to 91 to 2001 to 2011
Uttarpara Kortung 36.03 66.64 29.53 17.80 27.22 48 5.84
New Barrackpore – – 55.78 43.12 37.11 30 -7.63
Bally 107.71 60.22 0.00 0.00 24.87 41 12.44
Bidhannagar – – – – 201.58 64 31.23
Madhyamgram – – 71.12 51.49 44.53 124 26.17
Maheshtala – – – – – – 16.37
Pujali – – – – – 235 9.42
Gayeshpur – – 20.28 95.70 25.18 6 7.18
Kalyani – – 296.66 114.40 46.85 48.3 17.63
Chandannagar MC 30.37 34.45 12.12 35.47 18.11 35 2.89
Rajarhat-Gopalpur – – – – – – 48.21
Uluberia – – – – – – 16.43
GR = Growth rate
Source: Calculated by the authors on the basis of Census of India data, 1941–2011

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Appendix 6: Changing status of cities in and around KMA formed in the post-Independence period
ULBs Size-Class Distribution of ULBs
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
Kalyani - - IV III II II I
Gayeshpur - IV IV III II II II
New Barrackpore III III III II II II
Madhyamgram - IV III III II I I
Rajarhat-Gopalpur - - - - - I I
Bidhannagar - - - III I I I
Maheshtala - - - - - I I
Pujali - - - - IV III III
Uluberia IV IV III III - I I
Bally II I I I I I I
Uttarpara Kotrung IV III II II I I I
Chandannagar MC III II II I I I I
Note: Class-I town/ cities: 100,000 and above, b) Class-II town: 50,000–99,999, c) Class-III town: 20,000–49,999, d)
Class-IV town: 10,000–19,999, e) Class-V town: 5,000–9,999.
Source: Compiled by the authors on the basis of Census of India 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011.