Behala

Behala is a locality in southern Calcutta. It is flanked by Kidderpore in the north, the New Alipore / Alipore and Tollygunge in the east, Thakurpukur / Joka in the south, and the Budge Budge in the west.

In the past it happened to be a part of a separate municipality by the name South Suburban. In early 1985 the West Bengal government included South Suburban Municipality, Gardenreach Municipality and Jadavpur into Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

History

The stretch of Diamond Harbour Road from Taratala to Thakurpukur is a very old settlement, which divides the Behala into three parts - East Behala, South Behala and West Behala. It is populated mostly by citizens of East-Bengal (Before Partition of India Bangladesh was called East Bengal).

Settlement in the area dates back to the 1797, but its urbanization is relatively recent. Population growth started in Behala after the partition of India.

A popular legend in the area is that of the "Porgusto" a creature with only one nose that is completely bald except for the glowing strip of fur that runs down his forehead. It supposedly appears in the dead of night on a full moon to snatch away newborn children. It is often said to take the form of a crying dandelion as tall as seven men. One folk song describes a woman who fed it a pile of rocks and was granted eternal life.

The Sabarna Roychoudhurys' 'Aath-chala' could be regarded as the most prominent historical structure (though mostly ruined presently) of the city of Kolkata. It is the structure, sitting under which the British East India company headed by Job Charnock signed the rights of the villages-Kalikata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti(which later merged to form the city of Calcutta), under a lease from the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family on the 10th of November,1698.

Modern day Behala

Today, Behala encompasses one of the largest suburban agglomerations of the city of Kolkata. Huge growth of population especially since the early eighties resulted in the area being on the radar of both the daily wage earners, common populace and educated classes. Due to this enormous and unplanned growth, the traffic is by and large dependent on the arterial Diamond Harbour Road, in spite of the availability of the parallel James Long Sarani (Commonly known as Rail Line) as an option. During the construction the Taratala fly-over, a large portion of traffic flowed through James Long Sarani to avoid construction activity, causing development of other areas of Behala.

Due to lack of planning and space, encroachments by street-hawkers of the sidewalks on both sides of the busy Diamond Harbour Road, push the pedestrians to the already busy road. Areas like Behala Tram Depot, Behala Chowrasta and Behala Sakher Bazar have been added to the 'Calcutta Green Zone' and traffic moves at a snail's pace during the peak office hours. A tramline runs up the centre of Diamond Harbour Road from Joka to Behala Tram Depot and often the people moved faster in the trams. Previously it was well connected by tram lines towards the north. However the trams were stopped when the flyover at the Taratala junction was constructed.

Transport

Behala is poorly connected to Kolkata by bus,which is the effectively the only means of transportation in the region. Private buses, govt buses and minibuses fly to Howrah, BBD Bag, Park Street, Sealdah, Khidderpore, Bidhannagar,Garia and other parts of the city from the bus terminuses at Thakurpukur, Sakherbazar, Behala Tram Depot, Parnasree Pally, Barisha and Silpara.

Trams used to be extremely popular vehicles for commuting to and from several parts of Behala, but of late the trend has seen a reversal. The only tram service in Behala now connects it to Thakurpukur and Joka.

The autorickshaws in Behala are notorious for aggravating the traffic congestion during rush hours, but they are used by the common people as a convenient way of travelling to Rashbehari, Gariahat, Tollygunge, Jadavpur and Rabindranagar comfortably. The autos connecting Behala to the rest of the city can be easily distinguished by their black and yellow coloring as against the mandatory blue and white shades of an intra-Behala auto.

Behala has a mind-boggling network of alleys and lanes, and the only vehicle that can take one all the way into the narrowest of streets in the heart of the area is the cycle rickshaw. While rickshaws are not allowed to ply beyond Taratala, they serve as the connecting medium from the Diamond Harbour Road to the inner reaches of Behala. It is advisable that one should bargain before taking a ride, since otherwise rather unpleasant arguments have been known to result afterwards.

Taxis are available at most times, although other than the mandatory hours, few taxis would agree to go all the way to distant areas.

Behala is served by the Majherhat railway station on the Sealdah South section of Kolkata Suburban Railway.

Behala is also very crowdy throughout the year. Tram depot areas is where the main market is and attracts customers from nearby areas. During the Pujas the place can be extremely crowded making it difficult to even walk. The infamous traffic jam is constant around this area.

Medical Facilities

• Vidyasagar Hospital, Brahmo Samaj Road
• Balananda Hospital.
• South Suburban hospital
• James long hospital

Festivals

Durga Puja, the most enthusiastically celebrated Hindu festival in Kolkata, is celebrated with much pomp and grandeur in Behala. Local clubs like Behala Jatiya Sangha,Behala Club, Srishti and Sahajatri (now known as Barisha club), Sree Sangha, Adarsha Pally, Barisha santi sangha, Behala Youngs have been immensely popular as pandal hopping destinations in Kolkata and have been awarded numerous prizes in the last decade.

Culture

The area of Behala boasts of quite a few auditoria, movie theaters and hosts art fairs on a regular basis. The most prominent auditorium of the region is Sarat Sadan, which is a part of the Manton Shopping Complex. The movie theaters in Behala are distributed along the length of the Diamond Harbor Road and the most notable ones are Ajanta (near Pathakpara), Ashoka (near Manton) and Pushpasree (near Sakherbazar).

Music is yet another aspect of the cultural life in Behala.

Famous people from Behala

• Anjan Chowdhury – Director of Bengali commercial film.
• Pijush Ganguly - Bengali Actor in films, television and stage.
• Indranil Sen - Bengali Singer, holds record for singing title songs of maximum number of tele-serials.

Cuisine

The most popular restaurants in Behala include Panna, Canton, Aashirvad, Prince and the economical Punjab Restaurant. Among fast food joints, Tawa and Haji's are among the top choices for the average Behalite. Haji serves one of the most delicious biriyanis and other moghlai plates in Calcutta. Butter Fishfry of Bengal Restaurant is also one of the most popular fast food.

The average Bengali cannot do without sweetmeats and a testimony to this fact is the large number of sweet shops scattered all over Kolkata, esp Behala. Famous sweet shops of Behala are Sree Durga (the oldest one), Gobindo, Panna etc. Roadside stalls serving chowmein, egg rolls, cutlets, and kebabs are also found all around, but are best avoided due to the unhygienic conditions that they operate in.

Tea stalls serving tea, biscuits and traditional Bengali snacks like Beguni (brinjal chops), Fuluri, Piyanji (onion chops) and Aloor Chop (potato chops) are found at every nook and corner.

Shopping

The Diamond Harbour Road is dotted on both sides with shops and eateries. Clothes, jewellery, electronic items, sports goods, books and footwear can be found in a multitude of stores all along the stretch from Taratala to Manton. Recent additions to the shopping scene include shopping malls and factory outlets.

Apart from the standard stores, the pavements of Behala are crowded with hawkers selling everything from toothpicks to bedsheets. However, one must exercise extreme caution while purchasing any items from these roadside stalls because of the absolute lack of accountability on the sellers part in case of faulty product sales.

Educational institutions

1. Barisha High School, Diamond Harbour Road, Behala Chowrasta
2. Behala Blind School, Diamond Harbour Road, Behala Simultala
3. D.A.V Institutions (formerly D.A.V Public School),Diamond Harbour Road, Taratala
4. Behala Aryya Vidyamandir, Unique Park
5. Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Joka
6. Vivekananda College,Thakurpukur,Diamond Harbour Road(http://www.vivekananda-college.org)
7. Vivekananda Women's College, Barisha Chowrasta, Diamond Harbour Road
8. Behala College(http://in.geocities.com/behala_college)
9. National Gems School, A. K. Paul Road
10. Vivekananda Mission School, Joka
11. Bidya Bharathi
12. Orient Day School,James Long Sarani.
13. Meghmala Roy Education Centre.
14. Parnasree Vidya Mandir
15. Behala Flying Club
16. Bratachari Vidyasram
17. Koluapara Primary School
18. Vivekanada School
19. Purba Barisha High School
20. Shyamasundari High School for girls
21. Purbapara High School
22. M. P. Birla Foundation H. S. School, James Long Sarani
23. Shaw Public School, (it is only for girls), Fakir Para Road - opposite Behala Blind School
24. Sishu Tirtha (for kids and infants), in Sarsuna, Near 18D Bus Stand / Sarsuna Super Market
25. Behala High School,Near Behala Thana(Police station)
26. Behala Girls High School,Beside Behala Thana(Police station)
27. Kishore Bharati High School,Near Islamia Ground
28. Azad Hind Vidyalay, Near Pathak Para (Adjacent to Saptasikha Club)
29. Bidya bhaban,near chourasta

Places of interest

• State Archaeology Museum, Satyen Roy Road
• Sabarna Roy Chowdhury Family houses at Barisha
• Sabarna Sangrahashala, Baro Bari, Barisha
• Parnashree Aerodrom
• Roy Family-House of Roybahadurs
• Sonar Durgabari

Politics

Behala consists of two assembly constituencies: Behala East and Behala West, both of which were part of South Kolkata (Lok Sabha constituency). As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, both these constituencies will be assembly segments of the parliamentary constituency no. 23 Calcutta South (Lok Sabha constituency) (Kolkata Dakshin).

Current MLA from Behala East assembly constituency is Kumkum Chakraborti of CPI(M), who won the seat in State elections of 2006 and also earlier in 1996 and in 1991. Parash Dutta of AITC was MLA from this seat in 2001. CPI(M) candidate Niranjan Mukherjee had won this seat in 1987, 1982, and in 1977.

Current MLA from Behala West assembly constituency is Partha Chatterjee of AITC, who won the seat in State elections of 2006 and also earlier in 2001. Nirmal Mukherjee of CPI(M) was MLA from this seat in 1996 and in 1991. CPI(M) candidate Rabin Mukherjee had won this seat in 1987, 1982, and in 1977.