| Bidhannagar Salt Lake City |
|
| — city — | |
|
|
|
| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District(s) | North 24 Parganas |
| Parliamentary constituency | Barasat |
| Assembly constituency | Bidhannagar |
| Population • Density |
218,323 (2011[update]) • 15,590 /km2 (40,378 /sq mi) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Area |
• 11 metres (36 ft) |
| Website | [http://http://bidhannagarmunicipality.org
footnotes = http://bidhannagarmunicipality.org footnotes =] |
Bidhannagar (Bengali: বিধাননগর), or Salt Lake City as it is popularly called, is a planned satellite township in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was developed between 1958 and 1965 to accommodate the burgeoning population of Kolkata, the state capital. It is now a hub of economic and social expansion and is famous as the centre for IT in the city. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, was instrumental in formulating the plan to build this satellite area, and the township was named Bidhannagar in his honour. The city was built on a reclaimed salt-water lake, which gave rise to its popular name of "Salt Lake City".
Contents |
As per 2011 Census, Bidhannagar had a population of 218,323 (Males 111,363; Females 106,960). Bidhan Nagar has an average literacy rate of 90.44%, higher than the national average of 74%; with male literacy of 93.08% and female literacy of 87.69%.[1][2] 5.8% of the population is under 6 years of age. Bidhannagar was initially planned to accommodate a population of 450,000.
Bidhannagar is located at .[3] It has an average elevation of 11 metres (49 ft).Demographically this is the most enriched part of Kolkata as it is very near to airport. Many of the fast growing IT companies are springing in this area.
The earliest known reference of Bidhannagar in history is that on 17 June 1756, Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, camped at this place to chalk out the strategy for attacking the British East India Company at Fort William. The said attack led to the infamous massacre in Black Hole Prison that occurred on 20 June. After the death of Siraj ud-Daulah in 1757 in the Battle of Plassey, the right and title of these swampy salt water lakes remained with Mir Jafar and his descendants, who were supported by the Company who had won in that battle. Gradually, the right of the lakes went to the hands of local landlords and there happened a spurt in the pisciculture in the area. In 1865, the British officially started reclaiming these salt water bodies by connecting it with Mahratta Ditch (canal). In 1878, the Government leased out the right of the place to Nandalal Das and Durgacharan Kundu till 1887. On 30 April 1890, the Government again advertised in the newspaper and gave the leasehold right to the highest bidder, Bhabanath Sen, who offered INR 3400 for the rights. The said right ended in 1899. In 1906, the Government again leased out the lakes for 10 years to the highest bidder against INR 9750.
In 1922, O. C. Leas, CIE, was appointed by the Government as the Special officer to chalk out a scheme for proper revamp of the silted salt water lakes. He recommended that a canal of 9-mile (14 km) length should be dug from Dhapa via salt water lakes up to Piyali river in the south. However, after that nothing palpable was done by the Government for the proper reclamation of these salt water lakes until the British left India. In 1947, one "Master Plan Technical Committee" was constituted. But it did not work. On 18 September 1953, the Dutch engineering firm NEDECO started surveying the salt water lakes on the invitation of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal. On 15 February 1955, a Government Gazettee notification was published regarding the acquisition of 173.70 acres of land for the expansion of reclamation of the north of Salt Lake area. The area was named Bidhannagar after Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.
Finally, on 16 May 1955, Calcutta Gazettee Government notification was published, which stated that the Governor of West Bengal has been pleased to acquire 8,760.50 acres (35.4525 km2) of Bheries (pisciculture area) under the Sec1.(4) of Land Acquisition Act, 1884. The basic area included the mauzas, that is, Hadia, Nayabad, Karimpur, Jagatipota, Mukundapur, Pargachhia, Tentulbari, Panchpota and a few minor others. In 1958, the Chief Minister Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy put his steps in the area for the first time. The global tender, for the reclamation of salt water lakes was floated in 1959, which was won by M/s. "Invest Import" Company of erstwhile Yugoslavia. These marshy, shallow salt water lakes were chosen as the site for developing the auxiliary township of Kolkata. Salt Lake City, later renamed as Bidhannagar,[4] as a mark of recognition to one of its founders, Dr. Roy.
In fact, the area was a conglomerate of several salt lakes, a low-lying saucer shaped area, which was lower than the adjoining drainage channels. The only available method of development was to fill these salt lakes to a higher level which would permit gravity drainage through the nearby channels. The Hooghly river, lying in the western fringe of Kolkata, needed dredging to maintain the minimum draught for ships. By May 19, 1956, the Government had taken over the lands and then gradually Salt Lake started taking shape. The erstwhile Yugoslav firm "Invest Import" (selected by a global tender) was entrusted with the reclamation work of the swampy land area. Pipes were laid down from Chitpur lockgate in the north of Kolkata to Salt Lake for bringing silt from the bed of Hooghly river to Salt Lake via a number of pumping stations. It took nearly 7 years to fill up the 12.35 km² of land with dredged silt, which was once a very fertile fishing zone. On 16 April 1962, the Salt Lake City was officially born.The original planner of Bidhannagar was a Yugoslav named Dobrivojo Toscovic.
The development of the area was done in "Sectors". The plots were classified as residential, residential (shop-allowable), commercial, institutional and industrial. By 1965, Sector-I was complete and by 1969, Sector-II and Sector-III were ready for occupancy. Then came up the industrial Sectors IV and V (the location of the IT industries). The Sector IV contains Nicco Park (erstwhile Jhilmill) — the first amusement park of eastern India with 40 acres (160,000 m2) of land and the Nalban Boating Complex and so also the under-privileged area of Sukantanagar, the space apparently created for the rehabilitation of the displaced persons of Duttabad due to the construction of the Salt Lake Stadium in consultation with the Lutheran World Service. The 12.35 km² area of the town, initially composed of 12873 plots of land apart from 87 housing estates and blocks, got built up. Recently, the land area of this township has almost doubled to 33.5 km² due to the incorporation of Duttabad, Sukantanagar, Nayapatti, Dhapa-Manpur and Mahishbathan areas. The whole of Duttabad remains as an underdeveloped area till date.
Bidhannagar was originally developed under the direct administration of the Irrigation and Waterways Department of the Government of West Bengal. In fact, this very department of the Government built Bidhannagar. Then it came under the Public Works (Metropolitan Development) Department. Then again it came under the wings of Metropolitan Development Department. The name of this department was changed to Urban Development Department in 1991. In 1989, a Notified Area Authority was set up to administer the area. Ultimately in 1995, Bidhannagar got its own elected body called Bidhannagar Municipality consisting of 23 wards(now 25 wards). All the plots of land in Bidhanannagar are leasehold plots and the Urban Development Department (the Lessor) directly manages the land matters, while the Municipality is responsible for sanctioning of building plans, providing essential basic services to the citizens, maintenance of the non-arterial (type V and VI) roads and other civic infrastructures of the township.
Being a planned city, Bidhannagar offers many facilities usually not available in many of the other older Indian cities. It has clean and well-maintained roads and sanitation, tree-clad boulevards, relatively pollution free environment, its own swimming pool, a large number of schools, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade which is a reputed B-School and a research Institute, the largest sports stadium in India the Yuva Bharati Krirangan, modern shopping malls such as City Centre, INOX multiplex, RDB Big Cinemas multiplex, an amusement park, the Netaji Subhas Sports Institute, a 5-star hotel (Hyatt Regency) and a vast array of Government offices that cater not only to the local town but to the entire city of Kolkata. Originally, Bidhannagar had been designed to accommodate the entire administrative apparatus of greater Kolkata, but this idea was dropped early during the planning. There is also a food court on the ground floor of Infinity Benchmark, right opposite RDB Cinemas. Called "Bytes", the food court includes Chinese, North Indian and East Indian cuisine options, apart from beverages and ice-creams.
Nicco Park, the first amusement park in eastern India, is located in the Sector IV, so also the Nalban Boating Complex. One of the largest shopping mall of Kolkata, City Centre, has come up near Central Park in 2004 with a built-up area of 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m2).
Bidhannagar also contain few very good private and Government hospitals like AMRI, Anandalok, Kolkata Heart Research Institute, Columbia-Asia, Seva etc.
Apart from this, there are 3 police stations, electricity offices, water supply tanks, sewerage water plants etc as civic infrastructure. However, poor street lighting has made petty theft and eve teasing a recurrent problem. Another police station is likely to come up for policing only the sector V- the Information Technology hub.
The Information Technology hub is the centre of some of the notable IT/ITES Indian and multinational companies.
Bidhannagar is also home to Central Park,(also called Banabitan) the largest park in the Kolkata urban area after the Maidan. Like the town it is situated in, it too has a more famous namesake in USA.
Bidhannagar houses a number of institutes offering philanthropic and spiritual services. Institution of Public Health Engineers, Salt Lake Sanskritik Parishad, Vivekananda Institute of Environment and Management, Workshop for the Blind and Bidhannagar Vivekananda Kendra are located here.
The Central Park, which is about 100 acres (0.40 km2), and comprises Banabitan administered by the Forest Department, the statues of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Swami Vivekananda and Kaji Najrul Islam, a central store of the Urban Development Department, has already been subjected to a greater scrutiny by the KMDA (Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority). The KMDA has been planning comprehensively for chalking out a Master Development Plan for the beautification of the Central Park of Bidhannagar.The Central Park is regarded as the Lung of Bidhannagar.
The Information Technology hub is the centre of some of the notable IT/ITES Indian and multinational companies. Around 1.2 Lakh people are Employed in Sector V.The area is administered by Naba Diganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA).
A Few of the Major Software companies located in Here includes:
Bidhannagar is home to several academic, research and professional institutions of National Importance. Major Colleges AND Universities located here includes:
Schools in Bidhannagar include the Hariyana Vidya Mandir also known as H.V.M., Bidhannagar Government High School, the oldest school at Salt Lake, Bidhannagar Municipal School, a combined primary and high school and a branch of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, named Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir, Salt Lake School (CA Block), Sri Aurobindo Institute of Education, Laban Hrad Vidyapith (AP Block,Achariya Prafulla Chandra High School(BK Block, and Labanhrad Vidyapith for Girls etc. . Also there are two Kendriya Vidyalaya in Salt Lake viz. K.V. No. 1 & K.V. No. 2 Salt Lake, and the Our Lady Queen of the Missions School.
A new township thrice the size of Salt Lake is coming up further east in Rajarhat under the name of New Town.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||