Adi Ganga River

Adi Ganga is one of the old and eminent rivers of India and West Bengal. It has been flowing from the ancient period, bearing various witness of Indias glorious past. It has more than one name. Some called it Gobindapur Creek, some Surmans Nulla. Some gave it the name Tolly’s Nulla. From fifteenth to seventeenth century A.D it was the main flow of the eminent Hoogly River. In the eighteenth century when it marked the border of the Gobindapur village; it was called Gobindapur Creek. Edward Surman, the leader of the Brithish Ambassy to Delhi in 1717, dredged the river. Adi Ganga is named ‘Tollys Nulla after a British major William Tolly. An interesting story is related with this fact. Apparently Tolly loved his beloved wife very much. So In 1775’s summer of Bengal, he just could not let her wife ride the whole way from Calcutta port to their estate in East Bengal under the scorching heat of the sun. Then he decided to get the branch of the Hoogly River flow all the way to East Bengal; so that his wife could sail in the ship to their estate. From then on Adi Ganga was called Tolly’s Nulla.

Adi Ganga is considered a holy river in India. It has been mentioned in ancient texts like Manasamangal of Bipradas Pipilai. The famous merchant Chand Saudagar sailed through this river. However, it may have a splendid past; the present condition of Adi Ganga is very much pitiful. It has practically turned into a stinking, filthy and dirty sewer. The reasons are manifold. First of all, the constant negligence of the concerned authority and state government is to be blamed. The other major reason is constant population growth and lack of planning in the urbanization process. In recent past, immersion of the idol of the goddess Durga has intensified its process of clogging up. Though the Pollution Control Board maintains regular surveillance over the ghats of Hoogly River, the ghats of Adi Ganga are generally ignored.

The extension of metro railway from Tollygunge to Garia further worsened the situation. While the initial stretch of Kolkata Metro from Dum Dum to Tollygunge was underground, this new extension is completely over ground. Prior to the construction, fresh water from the Hoogly River used to flow in during the time of high tide. Now the construction of the pillars on which the track of the metro is laid has stopped the flow of fresh water and thus the last hope of the revival of Adi Ganga has died. Previous irrigation minister of West Bengal said, At the Bidyadhari end, the river has been completely cut off due to encroachment. Also the cost of dredging every two kilometer of the river is 1.05 crore rupees. Some activist groups have started demanding the revival of the river.

Course

Adi Ganga actually originated from the Hoogly River. Near Bandel at Tribeni the lower course of the Ganges branched into three branches. They were Saraswati River, Jamuna River and Hoogly River. Hoogly River flowed around Kolkata and flowed into the Adi Ganga River and passed kalighat, baruipur and Magra and finally fell into the sea. The river Adi Ganga does not have any tributaries.  In the sixteenth century the Hoogly River left the Adi Ganga channel and started to flow through the lower course of the Saraswati River. From Bipradas Pipilai‘s Manasamangal, it can be understood that the Adi Ganga River flowed by Chitpur, Kalighat, Baruipur, Choumukhi, Satamukhi etc. William Tolly took the endeavor and connected the Adi Ganga River to the Circular Canal in 1773. In 1775 he connected it to Vidyadhari.  At present it flows by a number of places like Tollygunge Azadgarh, Alipore, Netaji Nagar, Rani Kuthi, Bansdroni, Garia, Naktala, Rathtala, Boral, Narendrapur, Mahamayatala, Harinavi, Rajpur, Changaripota, Kodalia etc. It flows on to Joynagar and finally joins the Bay of Bengal.

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