HENRY ISLAND—Part 1

Henry Island is a Fishing project 110 km from Kolkata. It has 9 huge waterbodies which are used for breeding fishes and supplying to local markets. Inside there is a resort called Sundari , maintained by Fisheries Department of West Bengal Government from December 2006. It is 5 kms from Bakkhali, a well known beach. We travelled through Diamond Harbour Road via Amtalla, Diamond Harbour (where the Ganges made a spectacular sight), Kulpi, Kakdwip and stopped at Namkhana, for a barge transport to the other side of the river.

There is a Panchayat fee of Rs 30 (updown fare) per car and a barge fee of Rs. 160 (one way) per car.Sometimes there is a delay for accomodating buses and lorries. The crossing takes 5 minutes but the loading process may set you down by one hour. You can see our trusted Scorpio crossing the river to the destination Ghat.

On the other side there is a smooth drive over a good road for 22 Kms, when a left turn at Henry Island turnoff takes you to your destination.

The booking has to be done at West Bengal Fisheries Department Salt Lake about a month in advance (Phone 033-2336470, 23586832, 65403292,03210225511, 03210266102 ). The rent is Rs.600/day for a double bedded room. There are no AC rooms now.The food is gorgeous in traditional Bengali cooking mode.Chilled, reliable ,ozonised water in sealed 2 litre bottles are available. We had prawns in the afternoon, Prawn and chicken pakoras in the evening, Bhetki fish in the evening, Puri—aloo dam for breakfast, Prawns for lunch, chicken pakoras and Pomfret Fry in the evening and Chicken in the evening for the 2 days we were there. Fresh fish has a distinctly different taste!!!!

However, there were frequent power cuts, smoothened over with an inhouse generator—though the voltage was not that stable. The biggest bugbear were the ants. Any leftovers were quickly attacked—and they could come anywhere in a jiffy.

More exciting pics in the next part……