Kolkata Metro

The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. The network consists of one operational line (Line 1) and five lines currently under construction. It was the first such form of transportation in India, opening commercial services in 1984. It is the 17th Railway Zone of the Indian Railways

History

After independence, the transport problem of Kolkata drew the attention of the city planners, the State Government and also the Government of India. Efforts to solve the problem by augmenting the existing fleet of public transport vehicles barely touched the fringe of the problem as the roads account for only 4.2% of the surface area in Calcutta, compared to 25% in Delhi and even 30% in other cities.^[2]

With a view to finding an alternative solution, the Metropolitan Transport Project (Rlys) (i.e., Railways) was set up in 1973, which recommended aMass Rapid Transit System. The MTP (Rlys) prepared a master plan in 1971 envisaging construction of five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata, totalling a route length of 97.5 km. Of these, the highest priority was given to the busy North-South axis between Dum Dum and Kavi Subhash (New Garia) over a length of 25 km,^[3] and the work on this project was sanctioned on June 1, 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on December 29, 1972.

At first, 5 lines were planned, but finally only 3 were selected for construction. Those were -

• Dum Dum - Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Later extended to Kavi Subhash)
• Bidhannagar (Salt Lake Sector V) - Ramrajatala (Truncated till Howrah Maidan)
• Dakshineshwar - Thakurpukur (Route rechanged to Joka - BBD Bag)

Of these, only Line 1 (Dum Dum to Kavi Subhash) has been constructed.

Since the commencement of construction, the project had to contend with several hurdles, and actual construction of Line 1 started only in 1978. The first section opened between Esplanade & Bhowanipore (Now called Netaji Bhawan) by Sanjay Seal and Tapan Kumar Nath. There were no connections of this stretch with the two depots at Dum Dum & Tollygunge(now called Mahanayak Uttam Kumar), and the metro operated on only a single line. Two years later, line 1 extended up to Tollygunge at the southern end and made into a double line. Services from Dum Dum to Tollygunge started finally in 1995, and full services from Dum Dum to New Garia commenced on October 7, 2010.

Kolkata Metro Master Plan

In 2010, the Railway Ministry announced four new metro link projects for the expansion of Kolkata Metro, which currently has only one operational line (North-South Metro) and a second line under construction (East-West Metro). These new projects are:

• Joka to B.B.D. Bag
• Dumdum Junction - Barrackpore Via Sodepore
• Noapara to Barasat via Kolkata Airport
• New Garia to Kolkata Airport
• Baranagar-Dakshineshwar-Barrackpore metro link

As of 2011, all the projects are reportedly under construction.

Culture

Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.^[181] Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"^[182] as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".^[183][184] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of Kolkata.^[185] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.^[185] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.^[186][187] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.^[188][189]

Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";^[190] however, others are in various stages of decay.^[191][192] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.^[193] Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. TheNational Library of India is the leading public library in the country.

The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.^{[194]:99[195]} Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;^[196] group theatres use theproscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.^{[194]:99[197]} Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.^[198][199] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.^[200] Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, and Rituparno Ghosh.^[201]

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.^[202] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.^[203] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by theKallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.^[204] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, "...a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.^[205]

A murti, or representation, of the goddess Durga shown during the Durga Puja festival.

Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.^[206] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.^[207] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalentacademic art styles in the early 20th century.^[208][209] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of rabindrasangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.^[210][211] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.^[210] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about life"), is based on realism.^[194]:105

Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,^[212] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla,sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing),phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.^{[213][214][215][216]} Sweets play a large part in the diet of Kolkatans—especially at their social ceremonies.^[217]

Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.^[218] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations.^[219][220] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Jagaddhatri Puja, Diwali, Saraswati Puja, Eid, Holi, Christmas, and Rath Yatra. Cultural events include the Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, and Nandikar's National Theatre Festival.

Kolkata

Kolkata /kɒlˈkætə/, or Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly river, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port as well as its sole major riverine port. As of 2011, the city had 4.5 million residents; the urban agglomeration, which comprises the city and its suburbs, was home to approximately 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. As of 2008, its economic output as measured by gross domestic product ranked third among South Asian cities, behind Mumbai and Delhi.^[6] As a growing metropolitan city in a developing country, Kolkata confronts substantial urban pollution, traffic congestion, poverty, overpopulation, and other logistic and socioeconomic problems.

In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Kolkata were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading license in 1690,^[7] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified mercantile base. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Kolkata in 1756, and the East India Company retook it in the following year and by 1772 assumed full sovereignty. Under East India Company and later under the British Raj, Kolkata served as the capital of India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. The city was a centre of theIndian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata—which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics—witnessed several decades of relative economic stagnation. Since the early 2000s, an economic rejuvenation has led to accelerated growth.As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has established local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature that have gained wide audiences. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas, while Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, theVictoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum, and the National Library of India. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.