Pride of Kolkata

Geography of Kolkata

Kolkata is located in the eastern part of India at 22°82′ N 88°20′ E. It has spread linearly along the banks of the river Hooghly.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has an area of 185 square kilometres. The city proper today can be roughly divided into two sections along Mother Teresa Sarani (Park Street). North of Park Street is the more congested part of the city. South of Park Street is the slightly better planned section of the city.

The old Central Business District (CBD) is where the seat of the West Bengal Government is located, along with many other government offices. Several banks have their corporate (Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, UCO Bank) or regional headquarters (Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of India, Bank of India, Central Bank of India amongst many others) around the B. B. D. Bagh area. Many of Kolkata's older business groups have their main offices here. The area is a mix of multi-storeyed office blocks and colonial buildings.

The newer CBD is around the south of Park Street, Camac Street and AJC Bose Road. Several high-rise office blocks including some of Kolkata's tallest commercial buildings - like the Chatterjee International Centre, Tata Centre, Everest House, Industry House, CGO Building - are located here

Maidan (open field) is situated between the river Ganges and J.L.Nehru Road (or Chowringhee). It is said to be the lungs of Kolkata. The lush green meadow also houses Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens, and several sporting clubs. Kolkatans simply love to stroll in the Maidan.

In an effort to relieve congestion in the main city, many government offices have shifted to high-rise office buildings lining Bidhan Nagar's (Salt Lake) Central Park.

The residential buildings are mainly lowrise and comprise of older colonial buildings and numerous new four storied apartment blocks. Ten to twelve storied apartment blocks have come up in large numbers in south Kolkata. The city has relaxed its rules on high-rise construction recently and twenty storied buildings are becoming more common. The tallest residential towers of eastern India - the four thirty-five-storey towers of South City are under construction on Prince Anwar Shah Road.

Heavy construction activity along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass is changing the face of the city. Luxury hotels, a convention centre, speciality hospitals, condominium complexes, malls and multiplexes are coming up at a rapid pace.

Kolkata History

It is interesting to explore the origin & history of kolkata, the capital of British India. Calcutta history is not that old as that of Delhi. Calcutta, the city of joy was established in the year 1686, as a result of the expansion plans of the British Raj. It was during those times that European powers were heading their way towards capturing the small villages of Sutanati, Govindpur, and Kalikata. Calcutta derived its name from the last of the village settlements of kalikata. Read on to know the brief history of Calcutta India

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Archaeological evidence from the ruins of Chandraketugarh suggests that the area around Kolkata was home to a thriving and sophisticated civilisation around 2000 years ago. By the time the British arrived in 1686 there were just small villages, strung out along the banks of the Hooghly and overseen by wealthy Bengali landowners. The first British trading depot was established in Hooghly, 38km (23mi) upriver from modern-day Kolkata, but in 1686, Job Charnock shifted operations downriver to the villages of Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata, setting the foundation for the city that would one day become the capital of British India. Despite the post's initial lack of success, a fort was laid out near present-day BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square) and in 1698, the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's grandson gave the British officials permission to occupy the villages.

Kolkata grew steadily until 1756, when Siraj-ud-daula, the nawab of Murshidabad, attacked the town. Most of the British inhabitants escaped, but those captured were packed into an underground cellar where, during the night, most of them suffocated in what became known as 'the black hole of Calcutta'. In 1757 the British, under Clive of India, re-took the city and made peace with the nawab.

A stronger fort (Fort William) was built in Kolkata and the town became British India's capital. Over the following centuries, the British created a facsimile of London on the banks of the Hooghly, with parks, gardens, parade grounds and wide boulevards lined with colonial mansions, many of which still stand today. Kolkata's Indian population was relegated to the bustees - sprawling slums extending for miles around the British enclave. This unfair segregation sowed the seeds for rebellion. In the 19th century, Bengal became an important centre in the struggle for Indian independence, leading the British to transfer the capital to Delhi in 1911.

Kolkata grew steadily until 1756, when Siraj-ud-daula, the nawab of Murshidabad, attacked the town. Most of the British inhabitants escaped, but those captured were packed into an underground cellar where, during the night, most of them suffocated in what became known as 'the black hole of Calcutta'. In 1757 the British, under Clive of India, re-took the city and made peace with the nawab.

A stronger fort (Fort William) was built in Kolkata and the town became British India's capital. Over the following centuries, the British created a facsimile of London on the banks of the Hooghly, with parks, gardens, parade grounds and wide boulevards lined with colonial mansions, many of which still stand today. Kolkata's Indian population was relegated to the bustees - sprawling slums extending for miles around the British enclave. This unfair segregation sowed the seeds for rebellion. In the 19th century, Bengal became an important centre in the struggle for Indian independence, leading the British to transfer the capital to Delhi in 1911.

Modern History

Loss of political power did not alter Kolkata's economic control, and the British continued to pump money out of India through Kolkata trading companies and banks until well after WWII. The partition of India in 1947 devastated Kolkata. Bengal was one of the main areas with a mixed Hindu and Muslim population, so the dividing line was drawn through the middle of the state. Kolkata became an industrial city and port without a hinterland, while across the border, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) became a hinterland with nowhere to process or export its produce.

Although partition was less brutal here than in the Punjab, Kolkata was inundated with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from East Bengal. The massive influx of refugees and the departure of the British, combined with India's postwar population explosion, took its toll on Kolkata, both economically and socially. The city became a 20th-century horror story, at least in the eyes of the Western media, who focused obsessively on the poverty and the work of Mother Teresa and her missionary nuns in the slums. In 1971 the India-Pakistan conflict and the creation of Bangladesh led to another flood of refugees into Kolkata, putting yet more strain on the city and its resources.