New Economic Engine for Sustainable Jute Industry in Kolkata

New Economic Enginefor Sustainable Jute Industry in Kolkata: Tourism-facilitated Micro-and Small Enterprises (MSME)

Yanchao LI, DUSP

JUTE MILLS LEGEND

STATUS

Open Closed

SIZE (# Looms)

0 - 347

348 - 637

638 - 874

875 - 1675

Jute Mill Name % of Months the Mill was Closed, Nov ‘18 to Nov ’19

ABCDEF JUTE MILL

Closed 2019: 0% Production Level:

2 TYPE 3

Kolkata’s jute industry is in an urgent need of economic transformation. After conducting research on the current economy substitutes-tourism, it is found that the jute mills of Kolkata are uniquely positioned to address tourism challenges, and this in turn would be a clear opportunity to enable sustainable jute industry development.

The scheme proposed a new economic engine for the jute industry: tourism-facilitated market. The engine was proposed in the form of MSME, composed of jute processing sectors for producing biodegradable ritual materials and water purification sectors for improving ritual immersion experience. The great market for ritual materials and pilgrimage activities present as a stable base to finance this ambitious industrial transformation development.

Baranagar Jute Mill was selected for detailed design to demonstrate how the mill sites could be sustainably used, and how the urban systems like transportation and water access could be improved at the same time.

Current Situation of Jute Industry

Facing the severe decline of the local economy and ensuing social problems, Kolkata's jute industry is in an urgent need of economic transformation.

Kolkata is considering tourism as a substitute for boosting the local economy.

Tourism indeed brings economic potential to Kolkata, while also causes drastic pollution to the sacred Hooghly River.

Table1 : Annually tourism in Kolkata

Temple waste and religious materials

Idol immersion

Mass religious bath

Figure 2 (above): As a culturally significant place of Hindu pilgrimage, Kolkata meets an average of 12.3 million tourists (91% comes domestically) every year.

Opportunities for Sustainable Jute Industry

The Hooghly district is in the shortage of land for improving tourism amenities such as hotels and clean water pools, while the Compounds host large tracts of vacant land.

Materials for ritual activities cause water pollution, while the versatility and biodegradable jute fabric is in low awareness among people.

Tourism market and products are lacking diversification, and so the tourists spend very limited money when they stay at Kolkata. While on the other hand, thousands of skilled jute-craft workers are suffering from losing jobs, which are the people who are capable to make the creative jute crafts.

Tourism is stuck with transportation connections in Kolkata, while the majority of jute mill compounds can become possible landing points for crossriver connectivity because of their prime proximity of the Hooghly River.

Strategies

1.Improve tourists’ travel quality— overnight stay, food eating, cultural experience, etc.; 2.Protect the local environment— decrease water pollution, maintain tourism sustainability; 3.Encourage consumptions for tourism revenue expansion.

Site Selection

Baranagar Jute Mill Compound stands out with the standards of developing tourism amenities and improving ritual experiences.

Figure 4 (above): General strategies to revitalize jute mill for boost local economy and protect local environment.

Figure 5 (right): Site selection preocess: choosing the proper jute mill based on weighted-factors.

Site-specific Strategies

01 Zoning special permits on lands for tourism amenities such as hotels/ restaurants

02 Connect transit systems on site and beyond -site-scale connections -KMC-scale connections

03 Redevelop part of the site to provide clean water for ritual use

04 Remain jute industry use with jutecultural innovation -produce & process biodegradable ritual materials -help people to raise awareness of jute fabric

Figure 6 (above): Master plan for the Baranagar jute compounds with site-based strategies.

Figure 7 (right):Linking 15 frequent visited spots by running a new bus line. The goal is to encoruage tourists to spend more for overnight stay and other travel activities.

Project 01

Figure 8 (left): Proposed site roof plan for the Baranagar jute compounds.

Figure 9 (right):Proposed site master plan for the Baranagar jute compounds. Treating jute mill owners as the main client, the projects aim to make revenue in a sustainable way.

01 Improve jute manufactory -Consolidate jute manufacture, keep ~50% its capacity with 450 looms; -Improve inner working condition; -Integrate locak skillked people to redevelope jute culture.

02 Build clean pools for ritual use

03 Install purification systems for drinkable water

Project 02

bars

open space

private bath room -Use water strainer to filter river water ready for ritual use. -Functioned as a new public space including ferry stops, bars, stalls, etc.

ferry station

open space

clean pool stores private bath room

jute mill compounds

water strainer Figure 10 : Clean water pools for ritual use.

Project 03

1.Dirty water intake 2.Dirty water tank 3.Clarification 4.First filtration 5.Second filtration (pressurized filters) 6.Third filtration (cartridge filters) 7.Fourth filtration (reversed osmosis) 8.Clean water tank 9.Purified water Redevelop part of jute mill land to integrate state-of-the-art technology to produce drinkable water --has stable market due to great ritual needs from local people and tourists.

Revenue Estimation (per month)

Land rents for stalls Bio-degradable jutes

The total revenue for jute mill owners is around INR 8 million ($ 105,000), with 64% comes as drinkable water revenue.

Clean pool member fees

Land rents for hotels

Drinkable water

Governance

Jute mill owners, together with New jute SPV, are the main stakeholders to support the implement of the projects.

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