Santragachi | |
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Neighbourhood | |
 Lesser whistling duck in Santragachi Lake | |
  Santragachi Location in West Bengal, India Show map of Kolkata Santragachi Santragachi (West Bengal) Show map of West Bengal Santragachi Santragachi (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:22°34′49″N88°16′11″E / 22.58017°N 88.26963°E /22.58017; 88.26963 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| Division | Presidency |
| District | Howrah |
| City | Howrah |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal Corporation |
| • Body | Howrah Municipal Corporation |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali,English |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 711109, 711111, 711112 |
| Telephone code | +91 33 |
| ISO 3166 code | ISO 3166-2:IN |
| Vehicle registration | WB |
| HMC wards | 46, 47 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Howrah |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Howrah Dakshin andShibpur |
Santragachi is a neighbourhood inHowrah ofHowrah district in theIndianstate ofWest Bengal. It is a part of the area covered byKolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).[1]Santragachi Junction in Santragachi is one of the five intercity railway junctions of Howrah-Kolkata, which serves as a railway junction-cum-terminus for theSouth Eastern Railway. Kona Expressway in Santragachi is one of the major and fastest roads to enterKolkata.
In the early twentieth century, Santragachhi was a large village, with a part withinHowrah Municipality.[2] According to a legend, the principal family there, the Choudharys, who wereBarendra brahmins,[3] started staying here 300 years from now.[clarification needed][2] Inspired by them, other Barendra families moved to the place.[2] The railway station of Santragachhi was named after this place, though this place is closer to another railway station at Ramrajatala.[2] The Ramrajatala area was considered a quarter of the area under this village.[2]
The first vernacular school of theHowrah district was established in Santragachhi in 1857 with the help of a government grant.[4] Afterwards the school was amalgamated with "Santragachi Madhya Engreji School" making it an English and Bengali dual medium school and later in 1925, the school transferred toSantragachi Kedarnath Institution.[5] The first girls' school of the Howrah district with Indian management was established in Santragachhi in 1863, with a small grant from the government.[6]
Santragachhi produced good quality ofarums (ol:Bengali:ওল).[7] There is a variety ofAmorphophallus paeoniifolius (elephant-foot yam of arum family) which is namedSantragachhi after this place.[8][9]
There are several secondary and higher secondary schools for boys and girls. SirAshutosh Mukherjee laid the foundation stone ofSantragachi Kedarnath Institution,[10] whilstJagacha High School is another notable school in this area.Other government schools includeSantragachi Bhanumati Balika Vidhyalaya,S.E. Railway Mixed Higher Secondary School,Santragachi Mixed High School,Santragachi Railway Colony High School,Baksara High School,Surendranath Girls' School . Private schools includeSt. Marys Convent School,Maria's Day School. There is also a branch ofKendriya Vidhyalaya, which is affiliated to CBSE Board.
Colleges in the area includeDr. Kanailal Bhattacharya College andBijoy Krishna Girls' College.
Santragachi Jheel is a large lake,[11] located next to theSantragachi railway station.[12] It has Chhottodal Club at one end while the Wagon Factory (Reymon) at the other end adjacent to Sneha Birds View, a residential complex. One of the bank has local markets and railway station adjacent to Baksara bazar while the other bank mostly consists of residential complexes. This lake attracts large number of migratory birds in the winter months, particularly in December and January. The number has increased in recent years, as migratory birds have started to avoid destinations like the lakes inAlipore Zoo, Kolkata.[13] Birds likesarus crane from North America and Australia,[13]gadwall,northern shoveller,northern pintail,garganey from north of the Himalayas[14] and many other local migratory birds such ascotton pygmy goose andknob-billed duck are spotted here during this season.[14] However, the lesser whistling duck is the most dominant species visible here.[14]
The lake area is owned by South Eastern Railway, though the Forest Department of West Bengal also looks after the place.[12][14] Every year before the migratory birds are expected to arrive, the Forest department cleansWater hyacinth from the lake, though leaving some portion of it which adds up to an environment suitable for the birds.[14][15] Efforts are made by local residents, Forest Department and Railways to improve the environment for the birds.[14][15]
The Forest Ministry of the State Government of West Bengal intends to convert the lake to a wildlife conservation centre.[16]
The erstwhileBengal Nagpur Railway, now known asSouth Eastern Railway, was connected toHowrah station in 1900.[17] At this time, the 3-mile-long (5 km) short branch from Santragachi toShalimar Station was also created to redirect heavy traffic of export goods, for further carrying them toKidderpore dock inKolkata via large ferry steamers.[17]
Santragachi is the main railway coaching yard of South Eastern Railway's Kharagpur Division. Maintenance of more than 50 long or short-distance trains has been done here. The class-one flat yard consists of adiesel locomotive shed, an electric locomotive shed, washing and sick lines and arailway turntable.
Santragachi railway station is now arailway junction. There are plans of developingSantragachi Junction into a full-fledged terminal, with more trains originating and departing from here, over the next 3–4 years to reduce congestion atHowrah Station.[18]
Santragachi is crossed byKona Expressway (NH 12), which connects toKolkata viaVidyasagar Setu and towards rest of theNH 16 and to theNH 19. Santragachi has a big bus terminus having buses likeBarasat-Newtown-Santragachi, Barasat-Ultadanga-Santragachi, KB15 (Santragachi-Anandapur), EB1A (toBelgharia), VS12 (toNew Town) etc. Many buses also pass through Santragachhi like - K11 (Domjur -Rabindra Sadan), 26 (Mini) (Unsani -Esplanade), C11 (Domjur -B.B.D. Bagh/Belgachia), E6 (Amta -Esplanade), E7 (Bagnan -Esplanade) etc.[19]
Kolkata Central Bus Terminus, spread over 12.38 acres (5.01 ha) of land, is the result of the joint efforts by the state transport department, HRBC and KMDA. WhileKolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) contributed in handing over land to install the facility,Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) remained the implementing authority. Chief ministerMamata Banerjee inaugurated the terminus on 27 May 2015. The terminus has a parking capacity for 169 buses, 100 other vehicles and 85 two wheelers.
A 10 km (6.2 mi) east-west Metro extension project fromHowrah Maidan up to Santragachi bus terminus has been planned and up to Dhulagarh has been proposed. Rites, the implementing agency for this project, was set to start work on the corridor early in 2017, but the work is still halted due to land acquisition and fund issues.[20]
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