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Garden Reach

Coordinates: 22°33′N 88°18′E / 22.550°N 88.300°E / 22.550; 88.300
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Garden Reach
Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta)
Country India
StateWest Bengal
CityKolkata
Parliamentary constituenciesSouth Kolkata, Diamond Harbour
Assembly constituenciesKolkata Port, Metiaburuz
Municipal CorporationKolkata Municipal Corporation
Ward(s)80, 134, 135 136, 137, 138, 139, 140 and 141[1]
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)

Garden Reach is a neighbourhood of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. It is also known by its pars pro toto, Metiaburz.[2] It is situated in the south eastern part of Kolkata near the bank of the Hooghly River.[3][4] Localities within Garden Reach include Metiabruz, BNR Colony (Residential area of South Eastern Railway employees), Bartala, Bandhabartala, Sicklane etc.

Location

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

History

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in exile

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 residence. Accompanied by his close relatives, musicians, cooks and animals from his menagerie, he came ashore at Bichali Ghat near Metiabruz on May 6, 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".[5] 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.[6]

He had been given a number of fine houses with vast grounds stretching along the banks of the river Hooghly at Metiabruz. Heartbroken after leaving Lucknow, he carved 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.[5]

Suriname Ghat

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 the that country. A total of 64 sailing ships carried 34,300 workers to the country from 1873 to 1916.[7] Suriname ghat is also popularly known as Balu Ghat.

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

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.[7][8]

Road transport

Transport system of the garden reach is one of the worst in the city.Road accident at Sicklane area (at Garden Reach Circular Road) near Kolkata Port is common due to the bad condition of road as well as traffic jam.The port area is congested primarily because of the trailers.[9][10] 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.It is seen as a pet project of Firhad Hakim, urban development minister of West Bengal Government.[11] The whole project is scheduled to be completed in two years and six months.[12]

Industries

It is surrounded by many industries and factories. Most famous of these is Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers.

Educational institutions

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 Nut Behari Das School
  • Kendriya Vidyalaya Garden Reach[14]
  • Arya Parishad Vidyalaya

Schools (Private) :

  • St. Jacob School
  • The Study Park

College(s):

Post office

Garden Reach Post Office is located on the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Road named after the nawab of Oudh. It has PIN code: 700024.

Police station

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

Garden Reach is well known for crimes and anti-social clashes.

  • 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.[15][16]
  • 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.[17][18]

References

  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. ^ Localitys in Kolkata Blocks in Kolkata Districts in West Bengal | onefivenine.com Explore india
  5. ^ a b Nabab Wajid Ali Shah kolkataonwheels.com
  6. ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090322/jsp/calcutta/story_10706306.jsp
  7. ^ a b New memorial for Indian migrants to Suriname By Shubha Singh The Indian Diaspora Apr 23, 2015
  8. ^ In honour of labourers who left for Suriname, a memorial to Baba, Mai indianexpress.com | October 8, 2015
  9. ^ Mob torches police bikes after accident timesofindia.com | Aug 4, 2011
  10. ^ Two dead in road accident telegraphindia.com | September 11, 2013
  11. ^ Flyover on fast-forward - City of unfinished projects gets another foundation stone telegraphindia.com | March 3, 2014
  12. ^ Congested Garden Reach to have flyover freepressjournal.in | Mar 04, 2014
  13. ^ Official Website Of GRSE
  14. ^ Official website of Kendriya Vidya Garden Reach
  15. ^ Cop killed in firing as student wings of Congress, Trinamool clash during Kolkata college election India Today | Kolkata | Soudhriti Bhabani |12 February 2013
  16. ^ Police officer shot dead in violence at Calcutta college over elections The Telegraph | 12 February 13
  17. ^ Horror retold: DC lost & found telegraphindia.com | SUVRO ROY | 13 February 2013
  18. ^ I didn't want Kolkata to forget Vinod's murder: 1984 victim's widow Times of India |Subhro Niyogi,TNN | 14 Feb 2013

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

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