Nature

Contents

 The Hooghly

 The Canals

 The Wetlands

 The Countryside

 The Walls

 The Backyard Ponds and Tanks

The Hooghly

The Hooghly is the westernmost distributary of the Ganges. Not more than a hundred miles from the sea, the Hooghly is a tidal river. Although polluted and abused by the industrial and civic activities, the river is home to a fairly large variety of fauna and flora. There are cormorants and gulls on the surface and a large variety of piscine species underneath, especially the delectable Bengal shad, the hilsa, carp, and the occasional Gangetic dolphin.

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The Canals

Calcutta has a fairly extensive network of canals that drain the city. While some of these canals are heavily polluted, they are usually lined with trees, mainly bamboo, areca, coconut and oil palms. This tropical vegetation is home to a very large number of birds including kingfishers, hornbills and parrots. The best places to spot birds are along the Keshtopur canal that runs alongside Nazrul Islam Sarani, the expressway linking the city to the airport and also in and around Garia in the extreme south of the city.

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The Wetlands

Calcutta is surrounded by wetlands to the east and south. These wetlands, locally referred to as the Sunderbans, form the estuarine delta of the Ganges. Closer to the city, they can be viewed, and smelt, from the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, a sight similar to what one would get driving through the delta of the Mississippi from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. The fauna is similar to the one around the canals, with the addition of a large number of frogs. However, as one goes deeper into the wetlands the wildlife gets increasingly interesting. This area is home to the famous Royal Bengal Tiger, as well as alligators and crocodiles, deer and other small animals. The chance of spotting tigers is extremely remote, since these are very elusive creatures but crocodiles and deer can be spotted fairly easily.

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The Countryside

As Calcutta has grown rapidly, and often in a rather haphazard manner, it has encompassed tracts of the countryside. The countryside is very visible from Salt Lake, beyond the airport, on your way to the Indian Institute of Management or the Radisson Hotel, south of the city, past Garia and west of Howrah. The countryside is often home to a large variety of wildflowers and birds and the ubiquitous palms and bamboo.

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The Walls

Downtown Calcutta is a melange of architectures, with countless buildings dotting the cityscape. The seeming lack of greenery is however superficial. Every crack in every building that someone has not paid attention to have a little branch of the ficus family growing out of it. The ficus family consists of the banyan, the most famous specimen of which is to be seen at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Shibpur, the peepul and the pilkhan. The more useful species of this family, the rubber tree grows in pots in the residents' patios alone. Also, the loose bricks, holes and empty space in the rafters are home to flocks of sparrows and pigeons.

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The Backyard Ponds and Tanks

It is not entirely uncommon for old suburban homes to have tanks and ponds in their backyards. In older days, these ponds provided water and fish, two basic necessities of the local people and many of them continue to do so. The variety of freshwater fishes in the ponds is enormous and is more dependent on the species the owner would like to have, though typically, there are several varieties of carp, catfish and smaller fish besides the occasional crawfish and crabs. Since, law dictates that these tanks have to be maintained, they are the least prone to destruction amongst all havens for wildlife in the city.

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Last Revised: November 26, 1998