Kolkata is located in the far east of
Indian sub continent and close to the sea, Bay of Bengal.
The weather of the city as such is greatly influenced
by the adjoining sea. The place enjoys a sub tropical
climate. The temperature in summers can reach to a maximum
of 41 ° C. The minimum recorded temperature during
winters stands as low as 9 °C. Kolkata receives
surplus rainfall during monsoons. The outpour is due
to summer monsoons yeilding into a good rainfall.
Kolkata is located in eastern India at 22°33'N
88°20'E in the Ganges Delta at an elevation ranging
between 1.5 to 9 metres.[14] It is spread linearly along
the banks of the River Hooghly in a north-south direction.
Much of the city was originally a vast wetland, reclaimed
over the decades to accommodate the city's burgeoning
population. The Sundarbans National Park separates the
city from the Bay of Bengal, which is located about
154 km to the south.
Like the most of the Indo-Gangetic plains, the predominant
soil type is alluvial. Quaternary sediments consisting
of clay, silt, various grades of sand and gravel underlie
the city. These sediments are sandwiched between two
clay beds, the lower one at depths between 250 and 650
m and the upper one ranging between 10 and 40 m in thickness.[15]
According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town
falls under seismic zone-III, in a scale of I to V (in
order of increasing proneness to earthquakes)[16] while
the wind and cyclone zoning is "very high damage
risk", according to UNDP report.
You must not blame yourself, if you, standing by the
side of the hilly jungle terrain of Dooars or Jaldapara
in the north or the dark depth of the Sunderbans in
the South, have ignored the lesson preached by Robert
Frost. Precisely, 11,879 Square Kilometers of West Bengal
landmass are forest clad. The largest mangrove forest
of the world is the Sunderbans. The other lush-green
patches in the map of West Bengal punctuate the human
world. Almost in any house-hold garden in rural Bengal,
the rich orchards of mango, plantain, guava, cocoanut
etc establish a congenial relationship between man and
nature. The hilly regions of the state scream with superb
colourful orchids and flowers.
The jungle and forests of West Bengal represent, more
or less, the animal world in its totality. The Royal
Bengal Tiger of the Sunderbans, Elephants of Northern
Districts, the great one horned rhinos of Jaldapara
and Garumara thump their feet to send the whole forests
to shiver. Besides, the rapacious Cheetah, the tottering
bears, the darting deer, the more species of quadrupeds
as well as a few hundred species of birds including
seasonal and migrating have added flying colours to
the forest-green.
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