More often
than not, whenever we contemplate about taking a break from routine city life,
our mind starts wandering about destinations pretty common to all of us.
While
discussing a jaunt on a fall winter weekend amongst friends, the onus was upon
me to find out a place which is close by, beautiful yet not very commonly known
to masses. Instantly, the name of Piyali Island popped up in my mind. Earlier, somewhere I’ve heard of the place
but never happened to be there.
However, I’ve
started scouring in the internet as well as amongst people who might be aware
about it. From the internet, I got desired information to be able to put up to
my association. Most of the people I asked though told me about the picnic spot
Piyali which is en route to Canning, 24 Parganas (S). But, since I knew that
what I was looking for I didn’t pay any heed to it.
Four of friends,
including me decided to take up the excursion on Sunday, 21st
January 2018 by local train. Two friends
converged into Ballygunge Railway Junction, a station in Sealdah South Section.
We boarded Namkhana Local (one may opt for Kakdwip or Laxmikantapur Local as
other options) for our destination station Dakhin (South) Barasat. Rest of the
friends boarded the train from Jadavpur. They have managed to pick breakfast packets
on the way to station, so we had our breakfast on local train. It took around 1
½ hrs. to reach South Barasat. From there we took a shared trekker car which
are opulently available but overcrowded and somewhat claustrophobic. We decided
to climb up on the roof top and enjoy our journey!!
 |
Panoramic Piyali Island |
It took over
an hour to travel approx 24 kms. The road conditions are mostly good but in
patches they were pretty worse, narrow and choked by crowd. En route we were
escorted by meandering Piyali River, tranquil lash green nature perfectly punctuated
by paddy fields. However, locally the
place is more renowned as “ Kella” albeit there is no “Kella” (Fort) to be
found in the area. So, anyone looking for a fort there will be disappointed and
also asking for Piyali Island while in the station for boarding a trekker car may
not always get positive answer.
We reached Piyali
Island at around 1.00 p.m. The main land is connected with a bridge to the
island, underneath which there lies a sluice gate. The Island is beautiful,
serene, and tranquil to say the least. I’m uploading few snaps for readers to
have a minimal feel of the place, let their imagination draw the pictures of
the place for themselves. The island is basically a delta between river Matla
and river Piyali which drifts into river Matla further down south. Nature
lovers without bothering about amenities of city dwelling can enjoy their visit
to this ‘GETAWAY TO SUNDERBAN’. Although enriched with natural beauty, our
stroll around the area revealed that during monsoon, wrath of these meandering
rivers brings about huge loss to life and properties of locales and during that
time this place looks completely different. Earlier, a tourist lodge namely ‘Piyali
Island Tourist Lodge’ was operative here with its huge premises and picturesque
forestations, but currently though it is lying closed, dilapidated and
ill-maintained sans flow of visitors and tourists. There is dearth of eateries
around the place which is definitely needs to be taken care of along with
public toilets. Hope, administration will take necessary care to provide infrastructure
in order to promote tourism in this part.
Comments
Post a Comment