India's crumbling cities: Ageing Kolkata bent by pollution, poor infra

The second of a five-part series highlights serious pollution, poor infrastructure, and rising sea levels as the ills of urbanisation that afflict the city

The festive season in Kolkata ended on a sour note this year when thousands of worshippers ignored a National Green Tribunal order, smashed the locks on the gates, and barged into the Rabindra Sarobar lake for the Chhath Puja festival, clashing with environmentalists. The tribunal had banned the use of the lake in south Kolkata, which is surrounded by a green belt, for the rituals because the waste that’s usually left every year endangers the flora and fauna.  

While the police failed to stop the devotees breaking their way in, livid with the blatant disregard of the ban, environmentalists lit into