Kultali is a village within the jurisdiction of the Kultali police station in the Kultali CD block in the

Baruipur subdivision Baruipur subdivision is an administrative subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Overview Baruipur subdivision is a rural subdivision with moderate levels of urbanization. 31.05% of the population lives i ...

of the

South 24 Parganas South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore previously, with its Zilla Parishad now in Ba ...

district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Geography

Area overview

Baruipur subdivision is a rural subdivision with moderate levels of urbanization. 31.05% of the population lives in the urban areas and 68.95% lives in the rural areas. In the southern portion of the subdivision (shown in the map alongside) there are 20

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

s. The entire district is situated in the

Ganges Delta The Ganges Delta (also known the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, the Sundarbans Delta or the Bengal Delta) is a river delta predominantly covering the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Be ...

and the southern part is covered by the Baruipur-Jaynagar Plain.

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavations at Dhosa and Tilpi, on the bank of the Piyali River indicate the existence of human habitation around 2,000 years ago. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Location

Kultali is located at . It has an average elevation of . Kultali is one of the largest islands in the

Sundarbans Sundarbans (; pronounced ) is a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal ...

. The islands in the area are accessible only by boat. About 85% of the population is very poor. They eke out an existence collecting non-timber forest produce like tiger prawn seeds, fishing, vending vegetables and fish, and by working for a daily wage. Kultali is not identified as a separate place in 2011 census. The map of CD block Kultali on page 749 in the ''District Census Handbook'' for South 24 Parganas shows the Kultali police station in Dakshin Garankati mouza.

Civic administration

Police station

Kultali police station covers an area of . It has jurisdiction over parts of the Kultali CD block.

Economy

Honey collection

Around 20,000 kg of honey is collected every year from the forests of Sundarbans. Mostly people from the

Canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

, Basanti,

Gosaba Gosaba is a village and a gram panchayat within the jurisdiction of the Gosaba police station in the Gosaba CD block in the Canning subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Sir Daniel Mack ...

, Kultali, Mathurapur,

Patharpratima Patharpratima is a village and a gram panchayat within the jurisdiction of the Patharpratima police station in the Patharpratima CD block in the Kakdwip subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geog ...

Namkhana Namkhana is a village and a gram panchayat within the jurisdiction of the Namkhana police station in the Namkhana CD block in the Kakdwip subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History When the Tebh ...

, Sagar and

Kakdwip Kakdwip () is a town of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is the headquarters of the Kakdwip subdivision. History When the Tebhaga movement broke ou ...

are honey collectors. The number of honey collectors has dwindled from around 1,500 a few years back to around 700 in 2007. From 1985 through 2004, about 75 honey collectors were killed by tigers in the forests. Now all honey collectors are insured for Rs. 50,000. The forest department has also intensified vigilance during the honey collection period. The range officers and guards are on full alert. No deaths have been reported since 2004.

Social service

From 1982, the services and programs provided by Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha have grown to include two crèches for infants, a sustainable agriculture project, agro-equipment support service, community grain bank, savings and micro-credit ventures, disaster mitigation and emergency relief services, rural library and literacy programs. BTS serves nearly 2,800 households out of the estimated 25,000 households on Kultali.

Transport

A short stretch of local roads link Kultali to the Jaynagar-Jamtala Road.

Jaynagar Majilpur railway station Jaynagar Majilpur railway station is a Kolkata Suburban Railway Station on the Main line with an approximate distance from the Sealdah railway station. It is under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Railway zone of Indian Railways. Jaynagar Maj ...

is located nearby.

Education

Kultali Dr. B .R. Ambedkar College, established in 2005, is affiliated to the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. It offers honours courses in English, Bengali, history, education, philosophy, geography, political science and sociology, and a general course in arts.

Healthcare

Jaynagar Rural Hospital, with 25 beds, at Jamtala, is the major government medical facility in the Kultali CD block.

References

{{South 24 Parganas topics Villages in South 24 Parganas district