New Alipore

New Alipore
—  neighbourhood  —
New Alipore Location of New Alipore in West Bengal and India
Coordinates	22°31′N 88°19′E / 22.51°N 88.32°E / 22.51; 88.32Coordinates: 22°31′N 88°19′E / 22.51°N 88.32°E / 22.51; 88.32
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District(s)	Kolkata
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 15 metres (49 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 700053 • Telephone • +91-33

New Alipore is situated just south of Alipore bordered by the Budge Budge section of the Kolkata Suburban Railway between Majherhat and Tollygunge stations - it is bounded by the above railway line to the North, the B.L.Saha Road (Chetla) to the East, Diamond Harbour Road to the West and by Behala to the South.

History

New Alipore was created as a planned residential suburb of the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) by the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (now KMDA) in the fifties to house the burgeoning population of the city, looking for more land.

The area to the east of the Diamond Harbour Road was divided into 16 blocks - each block consisting of about 40 plots numbered xx/N or xx/S - N & S standing for North and South facing. It has recently been declared the Model Ward (Ward-81, Borough-X) by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

In the 1930s, the India Government Mint was founded here which produces coins for domestic use as well as other countries. Next to the Mint lies the Centenary Port Trust Hospital, built in 1971.

Neighbourhood

It is one of the better planned and posh areas of the city and is home to a wide variety of people from all walks of life. The roads in this neighborhood have paved sidewalks, often lined with trees. The area has a planned underground drainage system and street lighting. There are couple of parks and gardens and an air-conditioned market (near Durgapur bridge).

One of the major thoroughfares is the Nalini Ranjan Avenue. The street has a diverse selection of restaurants, from Chinese joints (the oldest being Kowloon) to cafes like Barista, Café Coffee Day and Subway and Domino's Pizza outlets. Other eateries include Gelato Italiano, Mama Mia, Monginis and Tewari's. Clubs and book shops abound. Recent developments include opening of big retail outlets and banks.

Resultantly, New Alipore has turned out as one of the most sought-after locales of Calcutta, with land prices among the highest in the city. Since the 1980s the bungalows and houses owned by the Bengali middle class have been giving way to swank high rises targeted at Calcutta's business communities. The new millennium has seen condos with swimming pools and gym facilities for the gentry.

Transport

New Alipore is connected to all parts of the city by extensive bus services. The Diamond Harbour Road is proposed to be part of NH 117. The erstwhile Kalighat Falta Railway (KFR) has been dismantled and the space reclaimed. The stretch where once the tracks lay is now the James Long Sarani. This road runs parallel to the Diamond Harbour Road and through Behala and Thakurpukur.

New Alipore has a railway station (formerly Kalighat station) on the Budge Budge section of the Kolkata Circular Railway and Kolkata Suburban Railway. The nearest Metro stations are Kalighat, Rabindra Sarobar & Tollygunge (Now Mahanayak Uttamkumar).

Medical Facilities

• B. P. Poddar Hospital, Humayun Kabir Sarani (Near Durgapur Bridge)

Educational institutions

1. Preschools like St John's, Kidzee and Kangaroo Kids
2. Bidya Bharati School
3. Marine Engineering and Research Institute
4. Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata
5. New Alipore College
6. Sarada Ashram Valika Vidyalaya
7. New Alipore Multipurpose School [1]
8. St. Joseph And Mary's School
9. Welfare Society For The Blind

Places of interest

• Triangular Park - especially during Durga Puja
• Amartya Sen's house during his stay in Kolkata.
• Geological Survey of India - Eastern Regional HQ [Block M].
• India Government Mint, Kolkata
• Suruchi Sangha, New Alipore ( Mainly during the Durga Puja celebrations).

Famous people

• Amartya Sen - economist, Nobel laureate
• Amitabh Bachchan - film actor
• Brinda Karat - politician [Block G]
• Bipasa Basu - film actress
• Dattu Phadkar - cricketer
• Dev (actor) - film actor
• Diptendu Pramanick - film personality [Block B]
• George Baker (Indian actor)
• Indrani Haldar - film actress [Block B]
• Jeet - film actor
• Sabitri Chatterjee - film actress
• Sharad Kapoor - film actor [Rajkanta Apartment, Block N]
• Tapas Pal - film actor
• Tapan Sinha - film-maker

See also

Neighbourhood pictures on Flickr