Examine how concerns of defence and health gave shape to Calcutta.

(a) In 1756, Sirajudaula the Nawab of Bengal sacked the small fort which the British traders had built to house their goods. Consequently when Sirajudaula was defeated in the Battle of Plassey, the British built a new fort. Fort William would not be easily attacked.

(b) Around Fort William, a vast open space was left which came to be known as the Maidan or garermath. This was done so there would be no obstructions to a straight time of fire from the Fort against an advancing enemy army. Soon the British began to move out of the Fort and built residences along the periphery of the Maidan. This was how the English Settlement in Calcutta started taking shape. The vast open space around the Fort became Calcutta’s first significant town planning measure.

(c) Lord Wellesley was concerned about the conditions that existed in the Indian part of the city the filth, overcrowding and the poor drainage. He wrote a minute (an administrative order) in 1803 on the need for town planning and set up various committees for this purpose.

(d) It was believed that creating open places in the city would make the city healthier. Consequently many bazaars, ghats, burial ground and tanneries were cleared or removed.

(e) After Wellesley’s departure, the Lottery Committee carried on with the work of town planning. In its drive to make the Indian areas cleaner, the committee cleared the river bank of encroachment and pushed the poor to the outskirts of Calcutta.

(f) The outbreak of cholera and plague epidemics in the 19th century gave a further impetus to town planning. The government believed that there was a direct link between living conditions and the spread of disease. Densely built up areas were regarded as insanitary as it obstructed sunlight and circulation of air.