SALT LAKE

Once a swampy stretch of land on the eastern fringe of Calcutta, now the dreamland of many a hearts ……. such is the name ------- "Salt Lake City", not to be confused with another city with the same name on the other part of the globe in United States. Modernisation, self-sufficiency with lush greeneries, chirping of birds along with a gale of fresh air defines this posh, hi-fi city.The tremendous pressure of accommodating the ever-increasing population in the city of Calcutta contributed to the emergence of this dreamland. The then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy came up with the idea of satellite townships. Salt Lake City was one of them.Bhabanath Sen, a Bengali landlord had taken the present Salt Lake area on lease from 1869 to 1956. By May 19th 1956, the Government had taken over and then gradually Salt Lake started taking shape. A Yugoslav firm was entrusted with the reclamation work of the water-filled area. Five-mile long pipes were laid down from Ghushuri to Salt Lake for sand filling. It took not less than 7 years to fill up the 15 sq. km. of land with sand water, which was a very fertile fishing zone. Once a water land, turned to be a sandy area. And on 16th of April, 1962 the Salt Lake City was born.Initially this planned city was under the South Dum Dum Municipality, then it came under the wings of Urban Development Department of West Bengal and subsequently in 1989, Notified Area Authority was set up. Ultimately 1992 onwards, Salt Lake has come under the wings of the Municipality Authority.By 1965, Sector-I was complete and by 1969, Sector-II and Sector-III even were ready for occupancy. Then came up the Industrial Sectors ----- IV and V. The 12.52 sq. km. area of the dream city initially comprised of 12873 plots of land apart from 87 housing estates and blocks. The land area has almost doubled now with the inclusion of Duttabad, Sukantanagar, Nayapatti and Mahishbathan. Today Salt Lake is the best residential area in amader kolkata shohor.