Shibpur

Shibpur Howrah
Neighbourhood in Howrah
Sibpur road, popularly known as Shibpur bazar
Shibpur Howrah Location in Howrah
Coordinates: 22°34′N 88°18′E / 22.567°N 88.300°E / 22.567; 88.300Coordinates: 22°34′N 88°18′E / 22.567°N 88.300°E / 22.567; 88.300
Country	India
State	West Bengal
City + district	Howrah
Parliamentary constituency	Howrah
Assembly constituency	Shibpur
Government
• MLA	Jatu Lahiri
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Postal Index Number	711102

Shibpur or Sibpur^[1] is a residential area located in the city of Howrah, West Bengal, India.

It is well known for being the location of the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, the IIEST Shibpur and the Hazar Hath Kaali Temple.

The famous Bengali linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji was born in Shibpur.

During British Raj, its name was written as Seebpore.

Recently, parts of administrative headquarters of the West Bengal government have been temporarily shifted to Mandirtala in Shibpur.

History

The Sanjher Attchala estate

The area was home to many royal landlords (jamindars) in Bengal. During the era of British rule in India, the landlords sold their possessions to build jute mills. These included the successful jute mills such as the Howrah Jute Mill and the Bengal Jute Mill. The proximity to Kolkata's southern district and the central business district which is just across the river brought many middle class office goers to seek cheaper lodging in Shibpur. Some of the old jamindars' house in Shibpur is like the Roy Choudhury's. The family stayed in Shibpur for near about 500 years at Sanjher Attchala. Botanical Garden was a British determent area. Then after freedom Indian government took a long place from the garden and made the college.

The oldest banyan tree is in the B Garden. Its original root has been destroyed many years ago and the tree sprayed a lot through its branches. This tree was taken from Africa by the British government.

The temple of Batai Chandi (considered an avatar of goddess Kali) is another famous place.

Recent developments

Flyovers approaching Vidyasagar Setu at Bataitala

Before the Vidyasagar Setu project, a vast tract of land near used to be a marsh and was only dotted by few villages. This is in the distant past now after building the iconic bridge and the Kona expressway easily connecting the place with heart of Kolkata and the national highway and the industrial sector in Dasnagar.

The HRBC Garment Park in August 2013

Notably the Kolkata port was connected to the rest of India easier than the other existing route through Howrah Bridge and Bally bridge which are famous for their congested rush hour traffic. As a result of that the place has good attention recently all over again. The town saw an immediate rush for land after the proposal for the bridge. Now various important buildings of the district are located in the town, namely the water purifying plant at Padmapukur, the Dumurjala stadium and a good number of women's hockey clubs. It has also turned up in the recent real estate boom in the metropolis; over the last ten years Shibpur has developed into a popular residential community. Many multi-storied apartment complexes have been built (e.g. Shree Apartment - being one of the oldest, Vivek Vihar - the complex widely spread, Panchsheel Apartments) attracted by the location near the River Ganges, as well as by the easy connection to South Kolkata over the Vidyasagar Setu bridge. Newly constructed roads have made access to the area very easy. Many parts have turned up as a transportation gateway to Kolkata. The first Garment Park of the eastern India, initiated by the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) is coming up at the approach to Vidyasagar Setu.^[2]

The secretariat of Mamata Banerjee run West Bengal Government is shifted permanently to the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners or HRBC made 16 storied with basement and ground floor^[3] the 'Garment Park' building popularly known as 'Nabbana' at Shibpur from 1 October 2013, as the restoration of 236-year-old Writers' Buildings is shortly for cost of Rs: 2,000 millions.^[4]

The town is also geared towards luxury living with some big real estate projects like Ideal Grand, Clubtown Riverdale building up luxury apartments with plenty of open spaces and amenities of a mini townships in Tram Depot and Shibpur market between G.T. Road and Foreshore Road. That place is currently occupied by dilapidated warehouses.

Heavyweight transportation businesses are also growing in the Shalimar area.

Culture

The Shibpur Public Library is one of the oldest libraries in Howrah.

The eminent novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay lived in Baje Shibpur, alias Bajiye Shibpur, meaning the musicians Shibpur, north of Shibpur. The linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji was born in this place. Kisari Mohan Ganguli, the author of the first complete English translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata (1883–1893), also lived in Shibpur.^[5]

Shibpur is notorious for its narrow lanes and high density built up town space.

Shibpur has a chequered history in the field of culture. The residents of this place are well known for their interest in music, the arts and literature.

Many luminaries of West Bengal in the fields of sports and athletics reside here. The only indoor stadium in Howrah, the Dumurjala Indoor Stadium, is located in the western fringe of Shibpur along the Drainage Canal road.

Popular areas

The Mandirtala Bus Terminus area

Being a largely populated city Shibpur has its share of areas and places that play the role of landmarks and "hangout" points, such as Mandirtala, the Shibpur entrance to the Vidyasagar Setu, a very popular jogging track and rendezvous point. It was named 'Mandirtala' due to two popular Mandirs of Lord Shiva situated here. Nearby popular places are Sashthitala and Shibpur Bazar, Hazar Hath Kalitala, Dumurjola Stadium. Shibpur Bazaar is a busy marketplace, where most of Shibpur's shops and stalls are located.

The nearest railway station Shalimar is a terminus station for South Eastern Railway, and also has a port near it. The Shalimar port is even older than the Kolkata port made by the colonial rulers. Shalimar port was in function during the Mughal Empire, which was connected to the rest of the country with Grand Trunk Road. One manufacturing unit of the second largest Paint Company, Berger Paints is situated here^[6].

The largest mall Avani Riverside Mall on the west bank of hooghly river is located here^[7].

There are many good schools and colleges in Shibpur. One of the best institutions in India Bengal Engineering College, the second oldest engineering college, was given the status of a university, making it the first university in Howrah. It was renamed as Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur in 2004, in recognition of its contributions for more than 150 years. This engineering university was transformed into the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur (an Institute of National Importance) in 2014 by the Government of India. Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution (College) is one of the best colleges of the district. Shibpur Hindu Girls' High School, B. K. Paul's Institution, Vabani Balika Vidyalaya, Shibpur Srimat Swami Projnanananda Saraswati Vidyalaya, Howrah Vivekananda Institution, Shibpur Sri Ramkrishna Vidyalaya, Shibpur Shikshalaya, Sri Ramkrishna Sikshalaya and B E College Model School are some of the well known schools in the state for their high standard of teaching - learning methods and good academic results every year.

Problems

Even after all the improvement in the recent two decades the place is not free of the usual problems with Howrah. The amount of road space to the population in Howrah is too small compared to even smaller towns by populations like Baharampur.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shibpur.