Liluah

Geography

It is located at 22°35′0″N 88°23′0″E at an elevation of 13 m from MSL.

Location

Liluah is 2 km west of North Kolkata and 5 km north of Howrah under Howrah Municipal Corporation from July 2015

Air

Nearest airport is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at Kolkata.

Road

Liluah is well connected with round the clock buses and auto-rickshaws. The Grand Trunk Road, crosses through the eastern half of the town the eastern half is well linked to the western half by a flyover bridge, it can also be accessed by the Benaras road (the route followed by the Bhattanagar–Esplanade minibus). Liluah can be accessed by bus route number 54, 56, 51 and 54/2. It can also be accessed by minibusses on Belurmath-Esplanade, Bhattanagar-Esplanade and Khidirpur-Ballykhal and CTC busses on Bhattanagar-Karunamoyi(Via Airport, New Town, Saltlake Sec-V) routes.

Inter-town road transportation

Auto-rickshaw, e-rickshaws as well as cycle-rickshaws are available for inter-town transport. Worth mentioning is that the western part of Liluah relies largely on autos and totos for public transportation, due to the absence any major bus route, though the Bhattanagar minibus plys through that part, frequency is quite low and its route goes through the southern fringes of western part (Gadadhar Bhatta Road, Jheel Road, A Road). As for the eastern part, large number of public buses ply the G.T. Road throughout the day.

Direct minibuses are available for Esplanade and Khidirpur along the Belurmath-Esplanade and Belurmath-Khidirpur routes.

Railway

Liluah railway station is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway. It also has a Railway Carriage and Wagons Workshop: one of the three in the Eastern Railways. The other two being at Kanchrapara and Jamalpur. The Liluah Railway station has 5 platforms with 3 mainly being used for the Howrah-Bardhaman Main Line and the other two for the Howrah-Bardhaman Chord Line. The Belur Math Line branches off between Liluah and Belur. There is also a Bhattanagar Railway Station which is present at the extreme western outskirts of Liluah (in the farmlands in the west of Bhattanagar locality). There is also a line connecting Liluah and Andul in the South Eastern Railways, used by goods trains. It takes 8 minutes to travel from Howrah to Liluah (a distance of 5 km) by a suburban local train.cost of ticket is Rs.5 one-way. But the same journey takes 10 minutes when going from Liluah To Howrah due to bulk railway traffic coming in and out of the Howrah station which is the biggest railway junction in India.

Administration

Most of Liluah falls under the Howrah Municipal Corporation since 10 July 2015, before July 2015 most of liluah was under the former Bally Municipality which was later merged with the HMC while the remaining parts came under the Howrah Municipal Corporation. There are two police stations in the town, all areas of Liluah west of the western side of Howrah-Bardhaman railway line, Howrah-Bardhaman Chord line, and Howrah-Bardhaman main line fall under the Liluah Police Station, situated on the Liluah station road, it also has jurisdiction over some areas beyond the town, while the eastern part of the town was earlier under the Bally Police Station until 2013 after which, it came under the new Belur Police Station, which also has jurisdiction over the nearby areas of Belur, it also has an outpost near Belur Math. It is located in The Liluah Railway Colony There are two post offices in Liluah: at the eastern parts of the town Liluah Post Office PIN Code - 711204 and in the western parts of the town Liluah Shibtala Sub Post Office PIN Code - 711204 and Bhattanagar Post Office PIN Code 711203, for the eastern and western parts of the town respectively. Some Western parts of the town are served by the Belurmath Post Office.

The town

The railway line divides Liluah into 2 parts (eastern part and western part). Until 2008 these two halves were connected by a level crossing near the Liluah railway station, since 2008 both these parts were joined by a flyover constructed over the Liluah railway station. The town once used to be an industrial hub, with many small industrial units (mainly iron and steel rolling mills) dotting the small town due to its proximity to Howrah, an industrial city and Calcutta, being a major city of that time, a condition similar to any other suburb of Calcutta during the British Raj these industrial units dominated the locale of the town throughout the mid 20th century, when Liluah was known only for industries, factories and workshops. Since the mid 1990s many of the factories in the eastern and western parts of the town were gradually closed. They were gradually replaced by residential or commercial buildings. Until the first decade of the 21st century, most of the factories in the eastern halve of Liluah had disappeared and the eastern part of the town now a primarily commercial, residential and educational area, dominated by markets, shops, schools and malls. This part of Liluah has rapidly evolved since the last two decades, as you pass through the G.T. Road from Howrah, you come across glittering shops and restaurants of the 'Don Bosco Area', The RD Mall and the Rangoli Mall, further north, there is the century old Liluah Railway Colony, made by the British in the first decade of the 20th century, this part has the 'three' big schools of Liluah (namely Don Bosco Liluah, M. C. Kejriwal Vidyapeeth and Agrasain Balika Siksha Sadan). The western halve of the town has the FIRST Wire and CABLE Machinery manufacturing company founded in 1957 by Late Jahar Lal Ghosh who died on 13th. September in 1978 now the FIRST Wire and CABLE Machinery manufacturing company continued by his two sons namely Mr. Dipak Kumar Ghosh and Dilip Ghosh, Since 1974, HIND Engineering Works, at 2, Kundan Lane, Liluah ( West ), Howrah - 711204, Liluah still has many industries remaining, but some are also being gradually replaced by residential buildings

History

Liluah or lillooah as it was then written, was the depot of the former East Indian Railway [EIR]. The case of unfortunate shipwreck bringing EIR's first loco and mis-despatch of ship carrying EIR's first coaches for inauguration of first railroad in Eastern India led the E.I.R. authorities to consider manufacture of rolling stock in India.(read the history of ER).

Initially EIR had set up in 1853 a Locomotive and Carriage Workshop near the Howrah Station (somewhere near the salt gola) with the idea of maintenance of assets after inauguration in 1854 and was later shifted to its present site in the year 1900 as the site did not meet the requirement in terms of magnitude of work. The Locomotive portion was shifted to a new and much bigger workshop at Jamalpur in 1862 and the Howrah works was upgraded to a Carriage and Wagon Workshop in 1863. As the Howrah location was found unsuitable for further expansion, the facility was finally shifted to its present site. The Liluah Carriage and Wagon Workshop is located in the suburbs of Howrah about 7 km. from Howrah. It is the largest combined Carriage & Wagon Workshop of Indian Railways.

The prime responsibility of this workshop was to manufacture rolling stock. This excluded locomotives . Only Carriages and Wagons were initially manufactured. During the last century Liluah had efficiently discharged the duties. Manufacturing of coaches were done till 1972, and Liluah has 3000 coaches to its credit. Wagon manufacturing was however discontinued in the post independence era and Coach manufacturing was also stopped when sufficient infrastructure was built throughout the country to cater for the ever-growing demand.

Another interesting fact which is less known is that apart from rolling stock manufacture Liluah made immense contribution to the war machinery of Allied Forces during the Second World War. Apart from rolling stock required for transport of military equipment Liluah also produced hundreds of Ambulances, Water Cars, tanks, armoured vehicles and lorries. Ammunitions were also produced for the British Army, the Indian Army and Royal Air force. Minor items like tent pegs etc. were also in thousands. All the above illustrates the technical expertise and skill developed within the workshop. An essay published in 1945 in East Indian Railway Magazine by D.K. Whitworth describes how great a job was done by railwaymen at Liluah between 1938 and 1942.

Like other leading Indian railways, the EIR provided a full regiment for the Railway Units of the Auxiliary Force (India). Liluah, or Lillooah as it was written then, was the home of the 1st Bn., the East Indian Railway Regiment.

Fateh Chand Badhwar OBE, MBE (Mil.) (1900–1995) the first Indian to become the chairman of the Railway Board had a stint at the Liluah Carriage and Wagon Workshop, during its early days.

A township was planned near the workshop for the British officers, working in the workshop, which gradually, until 1913 became The Liluah Railway Colony. The roads in the colony still bear the names of the British engineers who worked in the workshop. Until the mid-1900s, Liluah had become a dusty industrial town. The Colony is commonly used by locals for their morning walks now.

Post-independence, Liluah saw the development of many small industrial units, and thus rapid expansion beyond the western half of the town, areas which were earlier farmlands, resulting in unplanned development. As a result of which, many people came to Liluah from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as labourers in the small industrial units and gradually settled here; these people came to Kolkata in search of job opportunities, a condition experienced by all suburbs of Calcutta during the early post independence era; this resulted in significant ethical change in Liluah, which resulted in the majority Hindi-speaking population of Liluah since the late 1990s, in a contrast to the early 1990s, when most of the population was Bengali-speaking.

Education

Recreation

The recently opened RD mall houses Inox Multiplex, Domino's Pizza, Cafe Coffee Day, a gaming arena, and Big Bazaar among many other retail stores. The Rangoli Mall is a newly opened 3.5 lakh square feet mall that houses stores of premimum brands, including Max Lifestyle, Domino's Pizza, Archies, and Spencer's retail among others. A multiplex is supposed to come up in the mall too, as per newspapers.

Other main market areas in the vicinity of the town are, Abhay Guha Road (locally called, Donbosco gully or DonBosco area), Liluah Bazar and Belur Bazar. Local restaurants have recently housed alongside the G.T Road and include, Gangotri, Vegetarian Valley, Fusion, alongside eateries inside RD Mall.

Nearby

Belur Math is 1 km north-east of Liluah Railway Station.