Garden Reach

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Garden Reach
Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta)
Country  India
State West Bengal
City Kolkata
District Kolkata
Municipal Corporation Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Ward(s) 80, 133, 134, 135 136, 137, 138, 139, 140 and 141[1]
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
Lok Sabha constituency Kolkata Dakshin, Diamond Harbour
Vidhan Sabha constituency Kolkata Port, Metiaburuz

Garden Reach is a neighbourhood of Kolkata in Kolkata district in West Bengal, India. It is also known by its pars pro toto, Metiaburz.[2] It is situated in the south western part of Kolkata near the bank of the Hooghly River.[3] Localities within Garden Reach include Metiabruz, BNR Colony (Residential area of South Eastern Railway employees), Bartala, Bandhabartala, Sicklane etc.

Location[edit]

Garden Reach is situated at the eastern bank of the Hooghly River in the South western part of Kolkata. It is located north-east of Maheshtala, west of Kidderpore, and to the north of Taratala, Behala.

History[edit]

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in exile[edit]

Gate of Sibtainbad Imambara, Metiabruz, Kolkata
Grave of Wajid Ali Shah at Sibtainbad Imambara, Metiabruz, Kolkata

This area is connected to the history of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, fifth King of Oudh, who after being ousted by the British made Garden Reach his refuge. Accompanied by his close relatives, musicians, cooks and animals from his menagerie, he came ashore at Bichali Ghat near Metiabruz on May 13, 1856. A year later when the First War of Independence spread to Lucknow and the sepoys installed one of his sons to the throne of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah was imprisoned in Fort William by the British along with his Prime Minister, due to the fear that he could become a rallying figure for the sepoys. HEA Cotton wrote that "on Panic Sunday (June 14, 1857), there was wide spread apprehension among the white inhabitants of Kolkata because he had one, two, three thousand (no one knew) armed men under him".[4] After his release from Fort William, he was "allotted" a building called BNR House, in Garden Reach-BNR Colony area, now a part of headquarters of South-Eastern Railway, Kolkata.[5]

Heartbroken after leaving Lucknow, he tried to carve out a miniature of Lucknow in Metiabruz. In his exile in Metiabruz, he tried to keep the sweet memories of his Lucknow era alive by recreating the musical environments of his Kaisarbagh Baradari. The king spent his life lavishly out of his income of 12 lakhs (i.e., 1.2 million) rupees per annum and a "second Lucknow" arose in this area.[4]The Imambaras he created stands at the centre of Matiaburj.

Suriname Ghat[edit]

Baba and Mai statue at Suriname Ghat, Garden Reach, Kolkata

Owned by the Port Trust of India this Ghat is situated at the eastern bank of Hooghly river near Kolkata Port. It is named after the Caribbean country Suriname commemorating the indentured migration of Indian workers from this ghat to that country. A total of 64 sailing ships carried 34,300 workers to the country from 1873 to 1916.[6] Suriname ghat is also popularly known as Balu Ghat.

In the Honour of Indian indentured workers who had migrated to Suriname, an aluminium statue of a plainly-dressed couple carrying a potli which symbolizes the first Indian man and woman to set foot on Suriname was set up as a memorial. It was unveiled by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on 7 October 2015. The statue is a replica of the Baba and Mai monument in Paramaribo, Suriname's capital and is gifted by the government of Suriname.[6][7]

Geography[edit]

Police districts[edit]

Garden Reach police station is part of the Port division of Kolkata Police. Located at 1, Taratola Road, Kolkata-700023, it has jurisdiction over the police district which is bordered on the north by the southern bank of River Hooghly from the railway lines between the eastern and western blocks of Clive Jute Mills at 43, Garden Reach Road to the eastern boundary wall of C.E.S.C. South Generating Station, thence by the eastern boundary wall of C.E.S.C. South Generating Station to its junction with Garden Reach Road, thence along the northern limits of Garden Reach Road and eastern limits of C.G.R. Road diversion up to the crossing of Taratala Road; on the east by Taratala Road (road included) from the crossing of C.G.R. Road up to level crossing of old Budge Budge line (railway line defunct at present); on the south from the level crossing of old Budge Budge railway line along the western boundary of Port Commissioners land to the point where it meets Hari Mohan Ghosh Road to its junction with Paharpur Road; and on the west by Paharpur Road, Rameswarpur Road and Garden Reach Road (roads included) up to the railway line between the eastern and western blocks of Clive Jute Mills at 43, Garden Reach Road and thence along with the Railway Lines up to River Hooghly.[8]

West Port police station is part of the Port division of Kolkata Police. Located at 72/1 Garden Reach Road, Kolkata-700043, it has jurisdiction over the police district which is bordered on the north from a pillar on the right bank of the River Hooghly on Howrah side, at the mouth of Budge Budge Khal, thence eastward along the highest watermark of the River Hooghly up to a point on River Hooghly near Nalanda Engineering Company on Howrah side opposite to the western boundary wall of Hooghly Jute Mill on Calcutta side; on the east from a point on a highest watermark on River Hooghly near Nalanda Engineering Company on Howrah side, thence crossing the River Hooghly southwards by a straight line to the bank on Calcutta side, then by the western boundary wall of the Hooghly Jute Mills and then eastward by the northern boundary of Garden Reach Road up to the north-east corner of the junction of Garden Reach Road and Dumayune Avenue, then crossing Garden Reach Road southward along the eastern limits of Dumayune Avenue up to the north-east corner of the junction of Dumayune Avenue and Karl Marx Sarani (old Circular Garden Reach Road), thence crossing Karl Marx Sarani to the south-east corner of the junction of Karl Marx Sarani and Dumayune Avenue, thence westward by the southern limits of Karl Marx Sarani up to south-east corner of junction of Karl Marx Sarani and Hide Road, thence by the eastern limits of Hide Road up to its junction with northern boundary of Budge Budge railway line fencing; on the south from the junction of the northern fencing of Budge Budge railway line and Hide Road, thence along the northern fencing of Budge Budge railway line up to the north-east corner of the junction of the northern fencing of Budge Budge railway line and Taratala Road; and on the west from the north-east corner of the junction of the northern fencing of Budge Budge railway line and Taratala Road, thence northward along the eastern limits of Taratala Road and its diversion up to northern limits of Karl Marx Sarani (old Circular Garden Reach Road), thence westward and thereafter northward along the eastern limits of Karl Marx Sarani up to its junction with Garden Reach Road, then crossing Garden Reach Road, along the northern limits of Garden Reach Road westward up to its junction with Prince Dilwar Jha Lane, thence northward along the eastern limits of Prince Dilwar Jha Lane up to the River Hooghly, thence westward along the highest watermark on the left bank of River Hooghly up to the pillar at the mouth of the Budge Budge Khal. The Budge Budge Petroleum Depot, including all lands, sheds, railway sidings and other works appertaining to it, also falls within this Police jurisdiction, but Burmah Shell installation at infinity is excluded.[8]

Metiabruz police station is part of the Port division of Kolkata Police. Located at R-1, S.A.Farouki Road, Kolkata-700024, it has jurisdiction over the police district which is bordered on the north starting from the point where the western limit of Murray Road meets the southern limit of Garden Reach Road, thence eastwards along the southern limit of Garden Reach Road up to the point where it meets the western boundary of Rameswarpur Road; on the east by the western and southern boundary of Rameswarpur Road up to the western boundary of Paharpur Road, thence southwards along the western and southern boundary of Paharpur Road up to its crossing with eastern boundary of Trenching Ground Road, thence southwards along the eastern boundary of Trenching Ground Road up to its meeting point with mouza boundary of mouza Garden Reach; on the south starting from the point where the eastern boundary of Trenching Ground Road meets the mouza boundary of Garden Reach Road then along the outer boundaries of mouza Garden Reach up to the south-west corner of Santoshpur Road; and on the west from the south-west corner of Santoshpur Road, thence northwards along the western boundary of Santoshpur Road and Simpukur Lane up to the southern limit of Akra Road (S.A. Farooque Road), thence westwards along the southern limit of Akra Road (S.A. Farooque Road) up to its junction with the western limit of Murray Road, thence northwards along the western boundary of Murray Road up to its meeting point with the southern limit of Garden Reach Road.[8]

Watgunge Women police station, located at 16, Watgunge Street, Kolkata-700023, covers all police districts under the jurisdiction of the Port division i.e. North Port, South Port, Watgunge, West Port, Garden Reach, Ekbalpur, Nadial, Rajabagan and Metiabruz.[8]

See also - Rajabagan police station and Nadial police station

Jadavpur, Thakurpukur, Behala, Purba Jadavpur, Tiljala, Regent Park, Metiabruz, Nadial and Kasba police stations were transferred from South 24 Parganas to Kolkata in 2011. Except Metiabruz, all the police stations were split into two. The new police stations are Parnasree, Haridevpur, Garfa, Patuli, Survey Park, Pragati Maidan, Bansdroni and Rajabagan.[9]

Economy[edit]

Industry[edit]

Some of the major industries in the Garden Reach area are:

Road transport[edit]

Transport system of the garden reach is one of the worst in the city. Road accidents at Sicklane area (at Garden Reach Circular Road) near Kolkata Port are common due to the bad condition of road as well as traffic jam. The port area is congested primarily because of the trailers.[14][15] However a fly over is now planned to be constructed spanning from the Ramnagar crossing in the Garden Reach area to Diamond Harbour Road (Mominpur) to reduce the congestion The foundation stone was laid on Saturday 1 March 2014 after being approved by Central Government. Its estimated project cost is of Rs 313.27 crore.[16] The project has been completed in 2018.[17]

Educational institutions[edit]

Schools (Govt.) :

  • Metiabruz High School
  • Bengali Bazar High School
  • Garden Reach Maulana Azad High School
  • Maulana Hasrat Mohani Memorial Girls High School
  • Garden Reach Mudiali High School
  • Garden Reach Mudiali Girl's High School
  • Garden Reach Nut Behari Das Boy's High School
  • Garden Reach Nut Behari Das Girl's High School
  • Kendriya Vidyalaya Garden Reach[18]
  • Arya Parishad Vidyalaya
  • Santoshpur Shyama Prasad Vidyalaya For Girls
  • Garden Reach Kesoram Cotton Mills High School

Schools (Private) :

  • P.A.J's English Day School
  • St. Jacob's High School
  • The Study Park
  • Guru Nanak Modern School
  • Mali Sofiuddin Memorial School
  • Sir Syed Ahmed Free Primary School (Urdu)

College(s):

Police station[edit]

The Garden Reach Police Station is located just beside the 1/1A/1B Bus Stand. However, there are more police stations in the neighborhood like West Port P.S, Metiaburz P.S.

Crimes[edit]

Garden Reach is well known for crime.

  • On 11 February 2013 a police officer, Tapas Choudhury, was shot dead as members of the students' wings of Indian National Congress and Trinamool Congress violently clashed at Harimohan Ghose College while filling the nomination papers for the students' union election. Four students were injured in the violence.[19][20]
  • On 18 March 1984 during a clash between residents, a mob clashed with the police and the police fired several rounds. As a result, a deputy commissioner, Vinod Mehta and his bodyguard, Mokhtar Ali were killed by anti-socials.[21][22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kolkata Municipal Corporation censusindia.gov.in
  2. ^ THE STATELY PLEASURE DOME www.telegraphindia.com | Thursday , July 14, 2011 "Metiabruz, a desolate tract of land near the ports at Garden Reach"
  3. ^ Garden Reach | Clickindia.com
  4. ^ a b Nabab Wajid Ali Shah kolkataonwheels.com
  5. ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090322/jsp/calcutta/story_10706306.jsp
  6. ^ a b New memorial for Indian migrants to Suriname By Shubha Singh The Indian Diaspora Apr 23, 2015
  7. ^ In honour of labourers who left for Suriname, a memorial to Baba, Mai indianexpress.com | October 8, 2015
  8. ^ a b c d "Kolkata Police". Port Division. KP. Retrieved 21 March 2018. 
  9. ^ "Midnight change of guard – 17 more police stations come under Lalbazar". The Telegraph, 1 September 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2018. 
  10. ^ "Garden Reach Shipbuildera and Engineers Ltd". GRSE. Retrieved 4 April 2018. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Brief Industrial Profile of Kolkata District" (PDF). Some major large scale industries. Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute, Kolkata. Retrieved 4 April 2018. 
  12. ^ "ITC's 'sab saath badein' in action". ITC. Retrieved 4 April 2018. 
  13. ^ "About Paharpur". Paharpur. Retrieved 4 April 2018. 
  14. ^ Mob torches police bikes after accident timesofindia.com | Aug 4, 2011
  15. ^ Two dead in road accident telegraphindia.com | September 11, 2013
  16. ^ Flyover on fast-forward - City of unfinished projects gets another foundation stone telegraphindia.com | March 3, 2014
  17. ^ Congested Garden Reach to have flyover freepressjournal.in | Mar 04, 2014
  18. ^ Official website of Kendriya Vidya Garden Reach
  19. ^ Cop killed in firing as student wings of Congress, Trinamool clash during Kolkata college election India Today | Kolkata | Soudhriti Bhabani |12 February 2013
  20. ^ Police officer shot dead in violence at Calcutta college over elections The Telegraph | 12 February 13
  21. ^ Horror retold: DC lost & found telegraphindia.com | SUVRO ROY | 13 February 2013
  22. ^ I didn't want Kolkata to forget Vinod's murder: 1984 victim's widow Times of India |Subhro Niyogi,TNN | 14 Feb 2013

Coordinates: 22°33′N 88°18′E / 22.550°N 88.300°E / 22.550; 88.300

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