Kolkata Wetlands,
West Bengal

Kolkata is located within the delta of the Ganges (or Ganga) where the river splits into myriad tributaries over the fertile plains, merging with the Bay of Bengal. Here, it finds itself along a topographic gradient that gradually descends from the winding Hooghly to its west and the periphery of the mangrove forests of the Sunderbans towards its south and east. The study underlined the human-induced geomorphological transformations due to the presence of a resource or ecology of resources - a form of ‘New Nature.’ The study is situated on two sites within Kolkata - the (now landlocked) Mudiali Nature Park at Taratala and the water systems at Natar Bheri, Trinathpally (part of the East Kolkata Wetlands). Both these sites contribute to a larger understanding of the ecosystem and emphasize the effects of urbanization on this 'New Nature.'