Conclusion
6.1 Introduction
In this study an attempt has been made to examine the interaction between spatial and economic changes in the process of urbanisation in Asansol region with a focus on Asansol city. The account of Asansol so far delineated practically sought to apply the different theories of urbanisation to a specific city and its neighbouring region. To understand the dynamics and evolutionary path of urban development, we tried to integrate the components from the different theories of urban spatial structures like the analysis of capital accumulation and urbanisation of capital, theories of growth-pole and the urban hierarchy exploring the regional pattern of urbanisation and the location theories of urban structure determining the locations of firms and households in a modern city.
These theories provided a very useful framework for interpreting the spatial and economic changes in Asansol. They identified some of the dynamics responsible for the urbanisation of the space in which Asansol is situated. As we have discussed in chapter 2, these theories were based on some very important assumptions. They, however seems to have overlooked some other significant aspects of spatial and economic changes. For example, they did not take into account the historical perspective of a region and the topographical feature and the environmental factors of the same. A theoretical structure is an abstract version of the real one. So it has its limitations. An urban space cannot be a specific enclosed area separated from the larger world. It is an open space which is linked with the rest of the world. So, there are a number of forces which operate on it and determine the dynamics of the spatio- economic relationship in an urban area.
To bridge the gap between theoretical understanding of spatial and economic changes in a city, we have turned to empirical studies on Asansol during the post-independence period. An account of the pre-independence period has served as its background.
While the above is an overview of the study, the rest of the concluding chapter will summarise in section 6.2 the main findings of the study. Section 6.3 will discuss the issues responsible for making Asansol Region an eco- efficient space for urban capital flow. Sections 6.4 and 6.5 will dwell on the implications of the study and the scope for further research.
6.2 Summary of the Main Findings
The main findings of this study are summarised as follows:
(i) A hierarchy of urban settlement was created in Asansol region based on coal, transport network, steel and the linkage industries since the colonial period. The inflow of capital in coal here transformed the unorganised space to a busy mining based industrial urban agglomeration. Raniganj, Asansol, Kulti, Burnpur gradually turned to urban areas. But in the pre independence period, the development was the outcome of the interest of the foreign capital owners, native princely rulers and the big zamindar class. They invested in this mining belt for extraction of the surplus .Their objective was not welfare maximisation of the general masses but fulfilling their own profit maximisation objective. The region generated localisation and urbanisation economies which continued in the post independence period also.
(ii) In the post independence era, the nature of the welfare maximising public sector industrialisation programmes played a very important role in producing new industrial-urban space and altered the urban hierarchical structure in this region. Some towns were the outcome of planned investment, some were spontaneous. Chittaranjan, Durgapur and Hindusthan Cables Town were product of public investment whereas Sarakdi-Nadiha (Sen Raleigh Township) and Jemari (J.K.Nagar Township) were the outcome of private investment. Niamatpur, Ukhra, Jamuria (1961) and Dishergarh got the status of town due to increase in population and expansion of mining activities. The urban growth of this region is a combined impact of emergence and growth of some new towns as well as the increase in population of the existing towns. The position of Asansol and Burnpur changed after the formation of Durgapur. Durgapur emerged as the largest city in 1971. Similarly Chittaranjan came ahead of Kulti. The economic activities of the different towns in this region also complemented the needs of one another and enriched the industrial growth initially. Due to major public sector multi industrial investment in this region, private investments in small and medium industries also flowed in the towns like Asansol, Durgapur and Raniganj here. Coal, steel, engineering and chemical units were the core activities. Moreover, the industrial structure of these towns got diversified with a series of linked industries viz the ancillary industries and the mineral based industries having either forward or backward linkages with the core sectors. The region built up market linkages with the other resource rich neighbour states due to its strategic location and well developed transport network.
(iii) The nationalisation of coal and other basic and heavy industries during the seventies of the late century brought about a big change in the Asansol region. The positive employment policy of the Government expanded the service sector. There had been a notable rise in wage structure just after nationalisation. The overall level of urbanisation was very high in this region due to the emergence of this large number of urban centres where mining was the dominant activity in 1981 and 1991 though the growth of the existing towns decelerated. In- migration was considerably high. Nationalisation gave an impetus to the overall development in the employment and urbanisation of the Asansol region. The data of the socio- economic indicators like gender ratio, work participation rate, trade pattern also revealed that. The national economic policies had however, adversely affected the manufacturing industries. It shows that the correlation between production and urbanisation is not always positive.
(iv) In spite of the agglomeration economies, the region failed to exploit their advantages in the long run. Different emergent forces which are ignored by the existing regional urban growth theories, adversely affected the industrial growth here since the mid seventies of the late century. Among them the national policies of freight equalisation and uniform sales price of pig iron and finished steel in all parts of the country blocked the locational advantages of this region for the industries like engineering, metal based and the related ones. Regarding transportation of coal, telescopic railway rates was followed so that the greater the distance to be covered, the less will be the average rate charged per ton mile. It reduced the locational advantage of heat intensive high coal consuming metal and chemical industries here. Public sector industrial growth was also hampered by administrative and management problem. Moreover, stringent licensing policy, substitution of coal based chemical industry by petro based chemical industry along with the local labour problem affected the private industrialisation here. The decelerations in the coal and steel generated a phase of agglomeration diseconomies here.
(v) The reputed urban centres like Asansol, Raniganj, Chittaranjan and Durgapur experienced a slow rate of growth in the seventies as compared to the 60’s. However the rate of urbanisation in Asansol and Hindusthan Cables Town increased during the 80’s.
(vi) In the first decade of the post liberalised era, there has been a shift in the pattern of urban growth in this region. This population growth was magnified in the towns like Jamuria, Kulti, Raniganj and Asansol as all of them experienced spatial expansion. They have incorporated some adjacent urban and rural areas. The urban status of Jamuria, Kulti and Asansol also changed. Among these towns, Jamuria occupied upper position than Raniganj in the urban hierarchical structure. Jamuria incorporated a large number of mining based manufacturing towns. Moreover, many small towns which acquired the status of new towns during the earlier two decades were merged into some of these towns. The spatial jurisdiction of the post independent public sector manufacturing towns Durgapur, Hindusthan Cables Town and Chittaranjan remain unchanged. They experienced either stagnant or negative rate of population growth.
(vii) The period 1991-2001 saw the gradual slowing of large scale industrial activities and mining. The shift of the government economic policy from welfare maximisation to liberalisation and privatisation resulted in the closure of many sick industrial units during this period. Small scale units started to proliferate by the end of the 90’s which suffered in the earlier decades due to strict government control over their raw materials.
(viii) The employment policy of the Government changed which resulted in the reduction of the percentage of main workers and increase of marginal workers. The need for skilled workers shot up to compete with global production. The rise of proportion of marginal worker substantiates the fact that the Government did not hire these skilled workers all the times but gave sub contract to the private sector whose employment policy was not made public.
(viii)The comparisons of the socio- economic indicators of the field based study with an earlier survey and with their respective CD Blocks reveal that the public sector industrial led urbanisation in this region had considerably benefited the employees of the nationalised sectors but it did not percolate evenly to the whole local economy. Thus public sector injected money but they were unable to boost up local economy.
(ix) Though the Asansol region as a whole failed to exploit the advantages of agglomeration economies but in the inner city they played an affirmative role. In 1951, non residential business activities were concentrated around the then city centre comprised of the neighbourhood of the railway station in the north of the Grand Trunk Road and the market in the south of the this road. Absence of suitable routes connecting the other areas initially made these locations adjacent to the rail station and along the Grand Trunk Road the most valuable. They offered the advantage of low transport cost, greater accessibility to the input market, and a greater range of economies of scale. The rapid rise of residents in the city over time changed the structural composition of the ward. The city turned bigger during these twenty years. As the Grand Trunk road is also parallel to the rail route, the residential population densities were higher adjacent to the road. Residential population density was low near the rail station because it was the CBD area there were built spaces owned by railway authority for administrative set up and service quarters. The population density increased initially at a distance from the rail station and the CBD area. As in the earlier decades, there was lack of adequate built infrastructural development in road and transport network in the areas away from the G.T. Road. The expansion of the city over time was along the two sides of the G.T. Road. The spill over of the urban population was due to the reason that land was not available or too expensive near the G.T. Road or the CBD area. Transport network evolved and sub centres were created to cater the various needs of the residential population. The city gradually turned from a mono-centric to a multi-centric one over the period of fifty years. The small scale manufacturing units were concentrated in some wards to gain the benefit of external economies of some sort. Residential population density was high in the areas where non basic activities were available. Vertical space in the form of multi storied apartment was built in some of the old thirty wards.
(x) The spatio economic character of the newly added wards was different from the old wards. Vertical space for general population was not developed there because a large part of the land there was owned by IISCO and ECL authorities. There were residential family quarters for the middle and high income group employees where intensity of space uses were considerably high. Some of these wards were agricultural and mining areas. A few were tribal inhabited areas with few urban amenities. Thus residential population density was lesser than the old thirty wards.
(xi) The empirical findings reveal that population density changes in Asansol in 1991-2001 is influenced by the physical accessibility in the form of rail and roadways, gender ratio, literacy rate of female population and the location of the wards in the northern or the southern part of the G.T. Road. Thus residential location patterns in the different wards of the Asansol city is influenced by a co ordination of socio-economic, demographic, geographical and historical factors.
(xii) The construction of NH2 Bypass and the inflow of capital in the tertiary sectors like private technical education institutes after the set back of manufacturing sectors helped in the emergence of new sub centres especially in the northern fringe area. The availability of land helped in the expansion of increasing residential population density adjacent to it.
(xiii) The region is gradually turning to a vulnerable one due to growing incidence of land subsidence, underground fire and other environmental hazards. Moreover, illegal mining due to lack of alternative employment opportunities and laxity of the administration aggravated the problem of subsidence. Surplus creation continued but it does not add to real productivity.
(xiv) It logically therefore follows that the internalisation of the surplus that has been created is utmost necessary to rejuvenate Asansol. The positive role of economic agents is the exigency of the hour for a holistic infrastructure creation.
6.3 Issues Responsible for Making Asansol region An Eco-Efficient Space for Urban Production
As we have mentioned, the process of industrialisation led urbanisation here unavoidably produced ‘unintended consequences’ and created some ‘unwanted effects’. The region and the city are gradually becoming ecologically unsustainable due to land subsidence. In 2007, an action plan for shifting and rehabilitation from unsafe areas, dealing with fires and stabilising unstable areas under the command of ECL has been drawn up. CMPDIL, Asansol is entrusted with the responsibility of the Master Plan (Annual Report CIL 2006-07). Asansol region is also suffering from severe level of pollution in the environment components like air, water and land (Central Pollution Control Board, 2009). The local bodies here already realised this problem and Action Plans have been prepared to control the pollution in the area (ADDA City Development Plan 2006).
The study of Asansol shows that the spatio- economic changes are a composite combination of a various quantitative and qualitative socio- economic, geographical, historical, demographic and ecological factors. Thus communication and awareness among all concerned can strengthen a local economy in the near future and sustain the growth of any city.
6.4 Implications of the Study
Any case study of urbanisation logically throws light on the existing urban growth theories. This study analyses how industrialisation and the circulation of urban capital go together. In other words wherever there is prospect of industrialisation, there is urban capital to materialise those prospects. Thus the circulation of capital transforms an entire region into an urban space. However, investment being dependent on locational factors as well remains scattered in the region leading to an urban hierarchical structure. Thus urban hierarchy can be explained by the location theory. In this context, if we look into a city within an urban region we can find intra- city urban hierarchy as well. Therefore in our opinion the theories of urbanisation of capital, urban hierarchy and urban location theories must be studied in an integrated form for analysing the spatial and economic changes in a city.
6.5 Scope for Further Research
Ours has been rather an attempt at the application of a few general theories on urbanisation as noted above to understand the dynamics of the city of Asansol. But other components could be also there to any urban growth or deceleration. They might be accidental ones such as land subsidence, destruction of environment and so on. We have discussed that Asansol region being a mining based industrial one is faced with recurrent land subsidence, underground fire, pollution, water crisis and loss of fertility of agricultural land. They surely need special attention from scholars on humanitarian ground and in the interest of economic prosperity of our country.
Bibliography
Ahluwalia, Isher J (1985). Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation since the Mid-Sixties, Delhi, Oxford University Press.
Alonso, W (1964). Location and Land Use, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (1989). Survey of Shops and Establishments in the Central business District Area, Asansol.
Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (1992). An Information Bulletin on Asansol and Durgapur Sub- Division , Asansol.
Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (1993). G.T.Road Encroachment: Survey Report ( Barakar to Bud-Bud) , Asansol.
Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (2001). Socio-Economic and Demographic Profile of People in the Asansol-Durgapur Planning Area 2000-01, Asansol.
Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (2006). City Development Plan, Asansol Urban Area, Web Edition.
Asansol Municipal Corporation (2001). An Introspection, Asansol.
Asansol Planning Organisation (1977). Key Statistics of the Asansol Planning Organisation, Asansol.
Asansol Planning Organisation (1977). Report on Housing Conditions in Asansol Municipality and in Durgapur Notified Area: the estimate for future housing needs, Asansol.
Asansol Planning Organisation (1977). Report on Industrial Situations in Asansol Planning Region, 1951-1975, Asansol.
Asansol Planning Organisation (1978). Socio- Economic Survey in the Kasai Mohalla and Jhingri Mohalla of the Asansol Municipality, Asansol.
Asansol Planning Organisation (1978). Sub Plan for the Tribal Areas of Burdwan,Tribal Development Project No 31 and 32, Asansol.
Asansol Planning Organisation (1981). Report on Industrial Situations in Asansol Planning Region, 1951-1975, Asansol.
Bagchi, Amiya Kumar (1972). Private Investment in India 1900-1939, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Bandyopadhyay, Santimoy (2005). Asansol Parikrama:History of Asansol Sub Division about Five Hundred Years, Asansol, Trinity Trust. (In Bengali)
Basak, Nandita (2000). Dynamics of Growth Regional Perspective: Experience of Five Indian Industrial Towns 1961-1999, Calcutta, Firma KLM Private Ltd.
Biswas, K.R [State Editor]( 1994). West Bengal District Gazetteers: Barddhaman, Kolkata, Education Department, Government of West Bengal.
Black, John (1997). Oxford Directory of Economics, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Boudeville, J (1966). Problems of Regional Economic Planning ,Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh.
Brown, Lester R (2001). Eco- Economy, U.K, Earthscan Publications Ltd.
Burgess, E.W (1925). The city, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
Chakraborty, Jharna (1998). Evolution Of Asansol- Durgapur Industrial Complex and Its Impact On Regional Economy, Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography, Calcutta, Department of Geography, University of Calcutta.
Chatterjee, Mahalaya and Giri, Pabitra (Aug 2001). Functional Classification of Urban Areas in India, Urban Database Series No.1, Kolkata, Centre for Urban Economic Studies, University of Calcutta.
Coal India Limited (2005-06 &2006-07). Annual Reports, Web Edition.
Comprehensive Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters (Dec 2009), Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Web Edition.
Course Material Module 1 (2010), Urbanisation and Urban Development, CUES, University of Calcutta, Kolkata
Das Gupta, Ranajit (1985). Migrants in Coal Mines: Peasants Proletarians, 1850s-1947, Social Scientist, Vol13, No12.
Dasgupta , Biplab [ed] (1988). Urbanization, Migration and Rural Change A Study of West Bengal, Calcutta, A. Mukherjee & Co. Pvt Ltd.
Datta, L.N (2000). The West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993 (W.B. Act XXII of 1993), Calcutta, Tax’ N Law.
Census of India !951, West Bengal, Burdwan District Census Handbook .
Census of India 1961, West Bengal, Burdwan District Census Handbook, Vol- II
Census of India 1971, Series 22, West Bengal, District Census Handbook, Parts X-A & X-B.
Census of India 1981, Series 23, West Bengal, District Census Handbook, Burdwan District. Parts XIII-A and XIII-B.
Census of India 1991, Series 26, West Bengal, District Census Handbook, Barddhaman District . Parts XIII-A and XIII-B.
Census of India 2001, West Bengal, District Census Handbook, Barddhaman District, CD Format.
Census of India (2001), Final Population Totals, Table-1, 3, 4
Census of India (2001), Series 20, Provisional Population Totals, Paper-2 of 2001, Pg T-97.
Dutta, Sumana (2003). Impact Of Environmental Problem On Land Use Of Ajay Damodar Interfluve; Asansol Sub-Division, Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography, Calcutta, Department of Geography, University of Calcutta.
Evans, Alan .W (1985). Urban Economics: An Introduction, Oxford UK &Cambridge
USA, Blackwell, pp 65-77.
Ganguly, D.S (1979). Regional Economy of West Bengal: A Study of Urbanisation, Growth Potential & Optimisation of Industrial Locations, Calcutta, Orient Longman Ltd.
Ghosh, Mausumi (2007). “Asansol er Nagarayan - Urbanisation in Asansol” in Mukhopadhyaya, Ramesh Chandra [ed], Nagarayan, Kolkata, Underground Literature (In Bengali).
Giri, Pabitra (1998). “An Analysis Of The Growth Of Small And Medium towns In West Bengal, 1951-1981” in Dasgupta, Biplab[ed], Urbanization, Migration and Rural Change A Study of West Bengal, op.cit.
Gottdiener, M and Budd, L (2005). Key Concepts in Urban Studies, London, Sage
Publications , pp 85-86.
Guha, Debjani (1996). Spatio- Temporal Growth Of Industrial Centres and Its Impact On Urbanisation In Asansol- Durgapur Area , Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography, Calcutta, Department of Geography, University of Calcutta.
Harris, C and Ullman, E (1959). “The Nature of Cities” in Mayer.H and Koln. C [eds], Readings in Urban Geography, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
Harvey, David (1989). The Urban Experience, Oxford & Cambridge, Blackwell pp17-58.
Harvey, Jack (2000). Urban Land Economics, New York, Palgrave.
Hoyt, H (1939). The Structure and Growth of Residential Neighbourhoods in American Cities, Washington DC, FHA.
Hudson, Ray (2005). Economic Geographies, London, Sage Publications Ltd.
Hurd, R.M (1924). Principles of City Land Values, New York, The Record and Guide.
Jha L.K. (1975). “The concept of mixed economy” in Dutt, R.C.and Nigam, Raj.K[eds] ,Towards commanding Heights, New Delhi, SCOPE.
Kumaramangalam, S. Mohan (1975). “New model for governmental administration of industry” in Dutt, R.C.and Nigam, Raj.K. [eds]. Towards commanding Heights, op. cit.
Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala (2001). Mining and Urbanization in the Raniganj Coalbelt, Calcutta, The World press Private Limited.
Lal, H (1987). City and Urban Fringe, A Case Study of Bareilly, New Delhi, Concept Publication.
Macdougall, J (1965). Ancillary industries in Asansol- Durgapur: A Preliminary Survey, published for Institute of Public Administration, New York, Asia Publishing house.
Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra (1975). Bangla desher Itihas (History of Bengal), 4th vol, Kolkata, General Printers and Publishers Pvt Ltd. (In Bengali)
Mitra, A. and Prakash, Sachdev Ram (1980). Population and Area of Cities, Towns and Urban Agglomerations, 1872-1971, New Delhi, Allied Publishers Pvt Ltd.
Mukherjee, Hena (1994). The Early History of the East Indian Railway 1845-1879, Calcutta, Firma KLM Ltd.
Mukherjee, N. and Banerjee, R (Dec 2003). Privatisation of Coal Industry: A Review Udyog, Special Number, Asansol, West Bengal.
Mukhopadhyaya, Ramesh Chandra (2004). The Story of a College, Kolkata, Underground Literature, pp 12-13.
Munshi, Sunil Kumar ( 1980). Geography of Transportation in Eastern India under the British Raj, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Monograph No. 1, Calcutta, K.P. Bagchi and Co.
Nayak, Dinabandhu (2005). Sripur Village the Bower of Wealth, Kol, Underground Literature.
Parikh S.S [ed] (1977). Coal after Nationalisation, Calcutta, C.C.A.I Publication, p. 202.
Paterson, J.C.K (1910). Bengal District Gazetteers: Burdwan, Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Book Depot.
Paul, Sudipta (2006). A Report on Condition of Workers in Asansol (http:/mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2006-April/007264.html).
Perroux, F(1970). “Note on concept of Growth Poles” in D.L., Mckee, R.D. Dean and W.H. Leahy [eds],Regional Economics, op.cit.
Raychaudhuri, Ajitava and Basu, Gautam Kumar Basu (June, 2007). “The Decline and Recent Resurgence of the Manufacturing Sector of West Bengal: Implication for Pro- Poor Growth from An Institutional Point of View”, Discussion Paper Series , Number Ten, IPPG Discussion Papers available at www. ippg.org.uk
Richardson, H (1973). Regional Growth Theory, London, Macmillan.
Richardson, H (1978). Regional and Urban Economics, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, pp 165-171.
Rothermund, Dietmar (2000). An Economic History of India, 2nd Ed., London and New York, 1st published in 1988, Routledge.
Sengupta, Satyabata (2006). Chittaranjan : Past and Present, Unpublished seminar paper.
Sinha, N.K. (1968). The Economic History of Bengal, Vol-II, Calcutta, Firma K.L.M.
Soja, Edward (1989). Postmodern Geographies: The reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory, London, Verso.
Sullivan , Arthur O (1996). Urban Economics , Chicago, IRWIN
The Centre for Urban Economic studies University of Calcutta and Australian National University (2007). Migration, Urbanisation and Women’s Status in the Raniganj Coalbelt, The report of a joint project.
The Energy and Resources Institute (October, 2005). “Accounting for unsustainable mineral extraction in Madhya Pradesh & West Bengal”, Draft Final Report TERI Prepared for CSO, Project Report No 2003 RD 62.
And helpful Web Resources
