Garden Reach

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in exile

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

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]

Police districts

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]

Industry

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

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers - the premier warship building company in India, under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence. ^[10][11]
• ITC Ltd., Garden Reach, the Kolkata-based largest cigarette manufacturer in India, which has diversified into Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), hotels etc.^[12][11]
• Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd., Garden Reach, pioneers and leader in cooling towers.^[13][11]
• General Electricals Co. Ltd., Paharpur, Kolkata.^[11]
• Hindustan Unilever, Garden Reach, consumer goods company.^[11]
• Britania Biscuit Co. Ltd., Hide Road, Kolkata.^[11]
• Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd., Hide Road, Kolkata.^[11]
• Videocon Glass and Appliances Factory
• CESC Limited
• Danieli
• A bottling plant unit of IOCL.
• HPCL