I m p e r I a L g a z e t t ee r o f I n d I a vol. X i I i
The Hooghly is spanned at Naihati by a large cantilever bridge, which was opened in 1887 (see H
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- Bu sahifa navigatsiya:
- Hooghly
- Satgaon, Bandel
- From time to time fears have been entertained with regard to the Hooghly approach to Calcutta; and in
- Diamond Harbour as an auxiliary port for Calcutta was negatived, and there is no reason to believe that the navigable channels are at present
- and the Mayapur bar. The dangerous shoal known as the James and Mary lies between the entrance of the Damodar and the
- The railways have robbed the upper reaches of the Hooghly of
. The Hooghly is spanned at Naihati by a large cantilever bridge, which was opened in 1887 (see
The District contains 13 police stations and 23 outposts. The force subordinate to the District Superintendent in 1903 consisted of 3 inspectors, 42 sub-inspectors, 67 head constables, and 699 constables. Chinsura is the head-quarters of a company of military police 100 strong, which is utilized, when necessary, to maintain order among the men working in the numerous mills on both banks of the Hooghly. There is one policeman to every 2-1 miles of area and to every 1,883 persons. The rural police consists of 276 daffaddrs and 2,804
and sub-jails at Serampore and Arambagh have a total accommoda tion for 43. In 1901 the proportion of literate persons was io-6 per cent. (19-7 males and 1-4 females). The proportion of literate females is higher than in any other part of Bengal except Calcutta. The total number of pupils under instruction was 53,956 in 1892-3 and 43,91 r in 1900-1. In 1903-4, 43,667 boys and 3,549 girls were at school, being respectively 55-2 and 4-5 per cent, of the children of school- going age. The number of educational institutions, public and private, in the latter year was 1,469, including two Arts colleges, 97 secondary, 1,224 primary, and 145 special schools. The expenditure on education was 3-45 lakhs, of which Rs. 60,000 was met from Provincial funds, Rs. 42,000 from District funds, Rs. 5,000 from municipal funds, and 1-81 lakhs from fees. The principal educational institutions are in Hooghly town, but one of the Arts colleges is at U t t a r p a r a , where
there is also a large public library given by Babu Jay Krishna Mukharji, the founder of the college. Public libraries are likewise maintained at Hooghly town and Serampore.
1 I00GHLY RIVER 1 7 1 In 1903 the District contained 13 dispensaries, of which 6 hud a total accommodation for 131 in-patients; the cases of 71,000 out patients and 2,111 in-patients were treated, and 5,308 operations were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 32,000, of which Rs. 4,000 was met from Government contributions, Rs. 16,000 from Local and Rs. 7,000 from municipal funds, and Rs. 4,000 from subscriptions. Besides these, there were in 1903 one police hospital and one railway hospital at Hooghly town, and sixteen private hospitals in the District. Vaccination, which is compulsory within the municipal areas, is not making great progress in the District. In 1903-4 the number of persons successfully vaccinated was 25,000, representing 27 per 1,000 of the population. [Sir W. W. Hunter, Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. iii (1876); G. Toynbee, A Sketch of the Administration of the Hooghly District
Lt.-Col. D. G. Crawford, I.M.S., A Brief History of the Hooghly District {Calcutta, 1903).] Hooghly Subdivision.—Head quarters subdivision of Hooghly District, Bengal, lying between 22 0 52' and 23 0 14' N. and 87° 58" and 88° 30' E., with an area of 442 square miles. The subdivision is a flat alluvial tract, intersected by numerous streams and containing a number of swampy depressions. The population in 1901 was 308,715, compared with 309,616 in 1891, the density being 698 persons per square mile. It contains two towns,
with
Chinsura (popu
lation, 29,383), its head-quarters, and Bansbaria (6,473); and 942
villages. In addition to Hooghly and Chinsura, Satgaon, Bandel, and
Pandua possess historical and TribenI some religious interest. M agra
is an important mart. Hooghly River. —The most westerly, and for commercial purposes the most important, channel by which the waters of the G anges
enter the Bay of Bengal, being formed by the confluence of the three western distributaries of the great stream—the B hag
I ratiii
, J alangi
, and M atabhanga —which are conjointly known as the N adia
R ivers
. The Bhagirathi receives also an independent supply of water from the eastern watershed of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where its tributaries drain an area of about 8,700 square miles. The Bhagirathi joins the Jalangi at Nadia town, in 23 0 25' N. and 88° 24' E.,and the distinctive name of the Hooghly is by some assigned to the united rivers from this point; according to others the river does not take this name till just above Santipur, 24 miles farther down the stream. The united stream is joined by the Matabhanga 15 miles below Santipur, and it thence proceeds almost due south to Calcutta; it next twists to the south-west, and finally turns south, entering the Bay of
Bengal in
22 0 13' N. and 88° 4' E. After receiving the Bagher Khal on the left 1 7 2 IIOOGJILY RIVER bank, it marks the boundary between the Twenty-four Parganas on the east and the Districts of Hooghly, Howrah, and Midnapore successively on the west, thus separating the Presidency and Burdwan Divisions. The head-waters of the Hooghly are important as great highways for inland traffic. Like other deltaic distributaries, they are subject to sudden changes in their channels and to constant silting up ; each of them is frequently closed during the dry season, while in most years the depth then maintained does not exceed 2 feet at the shallower places. During these dry months the waters of the Hooghly are largely supplied by underground infiltration of water into the deep trough which the river has scooped out for itself; and the depth of the channel is maintained by the scouring of the current during the rainy season, when the spill streams from the Ganges and the Chota Nagpur tributaries of the Bhagirathi pour down enormous masses of water. The fresh-water supply of the upper reaches of the river is therefore derived partly from the Ganges, partly from the Chota Nagpur plateau, and partly by infiltration ; and it is estimated that these three sources provide, respectively, 48, 31, and 21 per cent, of the total supply. The strong freshes in the Hooghly have a most beneficial effect in scouring the channels, and it is noteworthy that the ratio of maximum to minimum fresh-water discharge is as high as 13 to 1. The Hooghly receives four tributaries on the right bank. The D amodar
flows into it opposite Falta, 35 miles below Calcutta, and 6 miles farther down it is joined by the R upnarayan ; the Haldi and Rasulpur flow into the estuary of the river. All these tributaries drain the eastern flank of the Chota Nagpur plateau. The influence of the tides is felt strongly as high up as Nadia, especially during the dry season ; and it is estimated that the tidal inflow during the four months of the hot season is more than double the total fresh-water discharge of the year. The tides operate usefully in dispersing the alluvium brought down from above, as well as in pro viding water for navigation over the shoals at high tide. The difference between the lowest depth of water in the dry season and the highest in the rains is no less than 20 feet 10 inches. The greatest mean rise of tide, about 16 feet, takes place in March, April, and May, with a declining range during the rainy season to a mean of 10 feet, and a minimum during freshes of 3 feet 6 inches. The tide runs rapidly in the Hooghly, and produces a remarkable example of the fluvial phenomenon known as a ‘ bore.’ This consists of the headwave of the advancing tide, hemmed in where the estuary narrows suddenly and often exceeding 7 feet in height. It is felt as high up as Calcutta, and frequently sinks small boats or dashes them to pieces on the bank. Within historic times great changes have taken place in the course
TIOOGHLY RIVER 1 7 3 of the Hooghly. There is good reason to believe that the B h â g ï r a t h i
represents the old course of the main stream of the Ganges. It is still called the Ganges by the people along its banks and is held sacred. At TribenT, on the right bank of the Hooghly, 36 miles above Calcutta, is the closed mouth of the old Saraswatï river, which formerly carried the main stream of the Ganges by a channel west of the modern Hooghly, which joined the present river at Sânkrail, 6 miles below Howrah. The course of this dead stream can still be traced by pools and marshes, and it was an important river as late as the fifteenth century. S â t g a o n , the Muhammadan royal port of Bengal, lay upon its bank a short distance inland from Tribenï, and was the traditional mercantile capital of Bengal from the Purânic age to the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the mouth of the Saraswatï had so far silted up that the Portuguese ships could no longer make use of it. Another important change has taken place below Calcutta. At one time the Hooghly, instead of turning south-west at Calcutta, swung to the south-east near the exit of the present
and found its way into the Bay of Bengal near Sâgar Island. The old course can be traced in a series of pools and dips across the Twenty-four Parganas, which are still known as the Adi (or ‘original’) Ganges. The pre historic shrine of Kali Ghât and other sacred places of Hinduism mark its course, and its banks still supply holy spots for the burning of the dead. In fact, it is not until the course of the Adi Gangâ rejoins the present Hooghly that this river is again recognized as Mother Ganges and resumes its sanctity ; and Hindus who die below the point where the Adi Gangâ left the Hooghly have for many generations been carried to the Hooghly above that point, or to the old banks of the Adi Gangâ itself, for cremation. The river may be divided into two sections : the first of 64 miles from Sântipur to Calcutta, and the second of 80 miles from Calcutta to Sâgar Island, where it becomes an estuary. A serious deterioration in the upper reaches of the Hooghly occurred during the eighteenth century, owing to an alteration in the course of the Dâmodar. This river originally joined the Hooghly at Nayà Sarai, 39 miles above Calcutta, and it brought down a great volume of water to assist in scouring the channel. Gradually, however, its floods worked a larger passage for themselves to the southward, and by 1770 it had forced an exit at its present mouth, 35 miles south of Calcutta. The result was that, during the eighteenth century, the Hooghly above Calcutta deteriorated, and shoals formed which rendered the ancient trading settlements no longer accessible to sea-going ships. The section of the Hooghly above Calcutta has been famous for 600 years for its entrepôts for sea-going trade. H o o g h l y T o w n was
founded by the Portuguese in 1537, after the Saraswatï river silted up i 7 4 HOOGZfLY RIVER and prevented access to Satgaon. The Portuguese were followed by the Dutch, who established their factory and port at C hinsura , a mile lower down, in the seventeenth century. Still later in the middle of the eighteenth century, C handernagore , 2
below Chinsura, which had been founded in 1673
as a small French settlement, rose to mercantile importance under Dupleix. The Ostend Company about 1723
fixed their Bengal port at Banklbazar, 5
nagore, but on the left bank of the river. The Danes in about 1676
had selected as their port S erampore , 8 miles below Chandernagore, on the right bank of the river. All these ports and settlements lie at a distance of from 16
to 36
miles above Calcutta, and are now without exception inaccessible to sea-going ships, even of small tonnage. The process of silting up was accelerated by the change in the Damodar channel above referred to. In 1757 Admiral Watson took his fleet, with his flagship of 64 guns, as high as Chandernagore for the bombardment of that town, and as late as 1821 the English pilots steered Danish ships of 700 to 800 tons up to Serampore. After 1825, however, this section of the river seems to have rapidly deteriorated, and the Dutch and Danish ships could go no higher than Cossipore, just above Calcutta, and were there unladen into cargo boats. Alluvial formations are still going on in the river-bed from Serampore upwards. These formations are in many stages of growth, from the •well-raised island with trees, down through successive phases of crop cultivation and reedy marshes, to shoals and little dots of dry land which only emerge above the water at certain seasons of the year. Below Calcutta changes in the channel are frequent and the rapid tides make navigation difficult. Lower down the estuary is notorious for its dangerous sand banks, of which the best known are the Gasper and the Sagar sands. These, however, as also the entrance channels, are continually changing, and a minute description of them would serve no useful purpose.
1862
it was proposed to found a new port at P ort C anning , 28
miles to the south-east, on the Matla river, to anticipate the silting up of the Hooghly channels. Trade, however, has clung to the Hooghly. Port Canning proved a failure and has long been deserted ; and a later proposal to build docks at Diamond Harbour as an auxiliary port for Calcutta was negatived, and there is no reason to believe that the navigable channels are at present deteriorating. The chief perils to navigation are the James and M ary
ands and the Mayapur bar. The dangerous shoal known as the James and Mary lies between the entrance of the Damodar and the Rupnarayan, and was early recognized as a danger to navigation. On September 24, 1694, the Royal James and Mary was lost on this shoal, to which she gave her name. Banks and shifting quicksands JIOOGIILY RIVER T 7 5 are rapidly formed and the channels have to be continually watched and sounded, for if a vessel touches the sand, she is pushed over by the current; and cases are known in which only the yards of a great three-masted ship have remained above water within half an hour after the accident. Direct efforts to control the channels across these shoals have not yielded favourable results. In 186S experiments were conducted on the Mayapur bar, and spurs were run out some distance below high water-line from both banks of the river; but they were found inade quate to guide the flood and ebb tide into one channel, and no improvement resulted. In 1896 an engineering expert, brought out to consider the feasibility of improving the river, suggested that training walls should be built to regulate the channels across the James and Mary and Mayapur bars; but his recommendations were not con sidered practicable. A great deal has, however, been done of late years by the Port Commissioners to reduce the dangers of navigation, A scientific survey staff is employed, and the charts which they issue form a lasting and valuable record of the changes that take place. The Mayapur and the James and Mary bars are sounded daily, the result being telegraphed to both Calcutta and Diamond Harbour for the information of inward or outward-bound pilots ; and the height of the water on the bars is signalled from the bank, from the time vessels enter the river until they pass the last dangerous bar at Maya pur. Much of the credit of maintaining and improving the Hooghly as a great waterway is due to the Calcutta pilots, one of the most highly skilled and best-paid pilot services in the world. Every incoming vessel is boarded from a pilot brig off the Sandheads at the mouth of the Hooghly, and remains in charge of the pilot till he makes over the ship to the harbour-master at Garden Reach on the southern limit of the Port of Calcutta. The result is that whereas, in the eighteenth century, ships of even 700 tons usually discharged their cargoes at Diamond Harbour, vessels drawing 28 feet are now piloted in safety up to Calcutta at favourable states of the tide. Great improvements have also been effected in the Port (see C a l c u t t a ). The Port Com missioners maintain a series of shelters or refuges along the east face of the Hooghly estuary and the adjoining Sundarbans, which are supplied with provisions and a few necessary tools for the use of ship wrecked mariners and are regularly inspected. The entrance of the river is protected against attack by forts at Calcutta, Falta, and Chingri Khal, which mount heavy guns. The Hooghly is spanned at Naihati by a fine cantilever bridge, con sisting of two spans of 420 feet projecting from the banks, and a central span of 360 feet resting on piers of great strength in the middle of the river. The bridge links up the East Indian Railway system with the i y 6 r/OOGJILY RIVER Eastern Bengal State Railway and with the docks at Calcutta. Lower down Howrah is connected with Calcutta by a pontoon bridge, which was opened for traffic in 1874. The railways have robbed the upper reaches of the Hooghly of Download 5.53 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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