Calcutta is a River Port
Calcutta, the city of joy throbbing with life, has charm of its own in spite of being hot, dusty and noisy. Calcutta is linked by water rail, road and air. It is the capital of west Bengal and has a population of more than eleven million people, most of who live in very poor condition.
Calcutta is a port even though it is about 135 kilometers away from the Bay of Bengal. The city with it is outlying towns and districts stretch for 1000 kilometers along the banks of the river Hooghly, which is a large tributary of the river Ganga. Hence Calcutta is a river –port. The docks lie south of the famous Howrah Bridge which spans the river, connecting the city of Howrah with Calcutta. This is a suspension bridge, which means that its roadway is suspended by cables from pillars which are easily seen from a distance. There is enough room under the bridge for small ships to go p the river. Calcutta is situated to the north of the Bay of Bengal, not many ships from the west cell here. The port is gradually losing its importance as the river is silting up and has to be dredged frequently. The new, deep water-port Haldia, about 100 km down stream, may soon take its place.
Howrah, on the right bank of the river is the rail head. This large, noisy station is the terminus of the railways from all over the country.
As Calcutta lies on the Gangetic plain, the soil here is very fertile. Canals tha6t take water from the river also provides cheap waterways for transporting food.
The fertile valleys of the Ganga and Brahmaputra lying behind the city are the hinterland of Calcutta. On account of this fertile hinterland, Calcutta is able to manufacture and export jute, tea oilseeds, iron ore, shellac and coal. The imports are petroleum and foo0d grains. There are a large number of factories in and around Calcutta that make electric appliances rubber gods, paper, sugar, motor cars, jute goods and iron goods.
As Calcutta is situated near the sea, it never gets very cold. The average winter temperature is about 10 degrees cilices in December but during summer it can get quite hot- about 30 degrees cilices in May and June as the sun’s rays shine directly over Calcutta at this time. The rains come in July. August is the wettest month with an average rainfall of about 32 cm.
The large, open space called Maidan lies in the centre of Calcutta. Here are beautiful lawns dotted with trees and small lakes. There are besides this park is the main road of the city, Chowringhee road, where the best shops, restaurants and cinema theaters are located. The British built a replica of the Taj Mahal at the southern Memorial which houses the relics of British rule. Priceless treasures of our ancient civilization are stored in the Indian Museum. The /national Library and the Raj Bhavan –the residence of the Governor- are rather impressive buildings of the British Raj. The Birla
Planetarium which is a famous observatory for studying the stars is also located in Calcutta.
The shortage of housing and amenities however make Calcutta one of the most crowed cities of the world.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.