Phoolbagan, Kolkata

Nestled at the northern nook of the city of joy, Calcutta, Phoolbagan is the quintessentially hybrid neighbourhood of the city. Positioned in between Kakurgachi, Beliaghata and Kadapara; Phoolbagan balances the presence of an ever-growing residential sector and multiple tourist locations.

With an exponential increase in the residential sector over the past two decades due to the industrial projects of north and new Calcutta, the neighbourhood of Phoolbagan with places like Goa Bagan, Tangra, Kestopur, Bowbazaar, or Newtown are easily accessible areas. They also have impressionable apartments, properties, cinema squares, shopping complexes and other social infrastructure.

With a substantial transport connectivity of the Phoolbagan and Sealdah Metro stations as well as the Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt Railway Station; commuting to and from this place is a cakewalk.

Phoolbagan provides essential amenities, but like any other locality, it has its drawbacks. Let's evaluate its strengths and weaknesses:

• With a new wave of residential complexes and urban spaces coming up, women and people in general feel complete safety while commuting around the neighbourhood, even at night.
• The establishment of the new Phoolbagan metro station has made the area readily accessible to the entire city.
• Phoolbagan also serves as an excellent locality in terms of commerce, recreation and entertainment with the presence of several sporting complexes, shopping malls, the PVR and Inox theatres.
• There is a range of hospitals and nursing homes in the locality, like the Apollo Multi-speciality Hospital, Orchid Nursing Home, Ramkrishna Medical Complex Nursing Home and others, for medical emergencies.

• The area is adjacent to the Kakurgachi division, which can get waterlogged during the heavy monsoons of Calcutta.
• The Maniktala Main Road leading to Phoolbagan can pick up massive traffic during the rushing office hours.
• The Subhash Sarovar, being the attractive tourist location it is, can also house huge piles of garbage around it, which may result in health ailments for the people nearby.

Phoolbagan is located at the far north of Calcutta within the areas of Kankurgachi, Beliaghata and Kadapara. Commuters can take the EM Bypass Road, passing through the eastern boundary of the neighbourhood. The metro stations of Phoolbagan, or Sealdah are also easy transportation junctions.

Sealdah Railway Station, 15 Number Bus Stand, Esplanade-Dharmatala, Bengal Chemical Metro Station, and City Centre Metro Station are some of the close-by commuting stations that pretty much cover the entire map of the city to Phoolbagan. The area also has its own police station, namely the Phoolbagan Police Station.

Some of the popular restaurants in Phoolbagan are: 

• The Rose Restaurant
• Rasu's The Spice Station
• Onam
• Chai Break
• Rang De Basanti
• Yolo Lounge
• New Punjabi Hotel
• The Loop Café and Restaurant
• K.K's Fusion Lounge and Bar
• Bowl Break
• Wow China

Residents have easy access to daily amenities in and around Phoolbagan. From banks and ATMs to railway stations, everything is available within a short distance.

• ICICI Bank and ATM
• Bank of Baroda and ATM
• State Bank of India bank and ATM
• Union Bank of India
• Kotak Mahindra
• India Overseas Bank
• Bandhan Bank
• The West Bengal State Co-Operative
• Axis Bank ATM

• Phoolbagan Metro Station
• Bengal Chemical Metro Station
• Sealdah Metro Station
• Vivekananda Yuba Bharat Metro Station
• Salt Lake Stadium Metro Station
• Kolkata Station

• Phoolbagan Howrah Mini Bus Terminus
• Kakurgachi Bus Terminus
• 3-SB Bus Terminus
• Babughat Bus Terminus
• Katgola Bus Stop
• Manicktala Bus Depot
• Beleghata Khol Pol Bus Depot
• CSTC Bus Depot

• Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport

• Acharya Prafulla Chandra Park
• Kakurgachi Baro Park
• Dolphin Park
• Purbangana Children's Playing Park
• Jagdamba Udyan
• Vivekananda Park
• Trikon Park
• Profullo Kshudiram Uddyan
• Sadak Uddyan

Phoolbagans maintains to create a subsection in the metropolis of Calcutta while maintaining strong interconnectivity to all corners and main points of the city.

Hence, it has direct routes to and from all the major road routes of Calcutta. The primary roads are E.M. Bypass Road, Narkeldanga Road, Upendra Chandra Banerjee Road, Suren Sarkar Road, Hem Chandra Naskar Road, and CIT Road.

The E. M. Bypass runs through the periphery of the neighbourhood, helping Phoolbagan have a prominent intracity connectivity.

The H.C.N Road follows a path to Phoolbagan, which takes a travelling time of merely 4 minutes.

The CIT Road is quite accessible and networked, through the Maa Flyover, which takes about 17 minutes to reach Phoolbagan.

Disclaimer: Cab fares mentioned above are subject to change and are not absolute prices.

In terms of safety, Phoolbagan gets a 3.9/5 which is good but with a scope of improvement. In terms of lifestyle and living conditions, it acquires a whopping 4.3/5, which speaks volumes about the prime facilities and standard of life the neighbourhood boasts of.

An obvious municipality area, Phoolbagan falls under the Ultadanga jurisdiction, with well-maintained parks, ecosystems, roads and localities.

There are a few ways to visit Phoolbagan via road, rail and air. Some of the options are:

By Road:

Take any bus from CIT Road or Narkeldanga Road to get down at the Phoolbagan stop. The numerous road connectivity also allows free coming and going of cabs throughout the neighbourhood.

By Rail:

 The nearest railway station is the Koilaghat Railway Station, which is 7.5km away from Phoolbagan.

By Air:

The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is roughly 30 minutes from Phool Bagan.

There are a few note-worthy places to visit in and around Phoolbagan. Some of these are mentioned below:

Subhash Sarovar

Calcutta has a charming series of lakes, each with its own kind of beauty. Subhash Sarovar is one such lake with serene greenery and a beautiful water body.

Salt Lake Sector 5

The Salt Lake Sector 5 area, with its overwhelmingly large array of skyscrapers and eco-parks, will surely win the hearts of tourists from within and outside of the city.

One can also visit the Bisram Bagan Bari for a regal time, the Mohammad Ali Park, the Police Museum, and Salt Lake Stadium, among other recreational spaces.

What makes Phoolbagan stand out is the mixed milieu of the urban and natural spaces coexisting seamlessly with a high rise in industrial and residential sectors but simultaneously a maintained approach to the ecosystem.

Whereas places adjacent to it, like Beliaghata and Kakurgachi, have narrower roads and less maintained spaces that are much more prone to create a socially unhealthy space to inhabit.

Just the right balance of urban and natural, Phoolbagan is an ideal space for commuters or people who want to be in Calcutta but cannot drive themselves into the most crowded or expensive bits of the city.

This neighbourhood offers all that is needed for urban living- multi-speciality hospitals, schools, shopping complexes and high-standard residential areas while boasting numerous instances of greenery like parks and lawns.