Dum Dum

Nighttime view of Lake Town

Dum Dum (Bengali: দমদম Damdam) is a northern suburb of Kolkata and an important transport hub of the city. It is home to Kolkata's only international airport. Dum Dum is also an important food and leisure hub in West Bengal, having a lot of international fast-food chains and shopping malls.

Understand

Dum Dum (DAWM-dawm) is mostly known to people outside Greater Kolkata for its airport. However, Dum Dum is a significant part of the military history of India. The British Raj had a major arsenal at Dum Dum which manufactured, among other things, expanding bullets which are still sometimes called "dum-dum bullets". They were later banned in warfare by the Hague Convention as being "too inhumane".

Dum Dum, along with Barrackpore, was a major centre of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It is rumoured that the paper cartridges provided to Indian soldiers were laced with pig lard or cow fat, resulting to the revolt of the soldiers in Dum Dum Cantonment.

However, the importance of Dum Dum in military declined by the late 1920s when Dum Dum Cantonment was closed down and became a separate municipality. With the growth of Dum Dum Airport (later Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport), the city transforms into a major transport hub of Greater Kolkata, alongside Howrah, Esplanade and Sealdah. The Kolkata Circular Railway has a terminus at Dum Dum Junction railway station, which is connected with metro and bus routes.

Orientation

This article covers the three municipalities of Dum Dum, North Dum Dum and South Dum Dum. However, except in Dum Dum municipality, the locals generally refer to their locations with respective neighbourhoods rather than municipalities. Some notable neighbourhoods include Birati, Dum Dum Park, Durganagar, Lake Town, Motijheel and Nagerbazar.

Get in

By plane

Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU ^IATA) is close by and is more normally referred to as Dum Dum Airport. It is only a short drive away from Dum Dum. Buses and taxis are available between the airport and the city.

By train

There are several railway stations in Dum Dum, of which 1 Dum Dum Junction  Chord Link  Circular  Eastern  is the busiest. There are metro and bus routes to and from the station.

By metro

The North–South Line  1  of the Kolkata Metro runs over the Eastern Line with a stop at Dum Dum.

See and do

• 1 Clive's House, Rastraguru Ave, Nagerbazar. A rather mysterious building, it is considered the first pucca brick and cement building in the Northern Suburbs of Kolkata, possibly built by the Portuguese. What is known is that it was used by British soldiers when they first entered the country. Later, Robert Clive took the area over, renovated it, added a floor to the single-storey building, and made it his country house around 1757-60. The house is located on raised ground in otherwise flat surroundings. When Clive House was excavated, a variety of artefacts were recovered, including coins, terracotta figures, sculptures, pottery and intelligence on a Portuguese fort. The articles found could be of the Sena period or may alternatively have links with the ancient Chandraketugarh civilisation. (updated Sep 2022)
• 2 Kolkata Time Zone Tower, VIP Rd, Lake Town. A one-third sized replica of the iconic Big Ben in London. The tower is 30 metres in height, while Big Ben in London is 96 metres. It has ten floors and the four clock faces are each 3.6 metres in diameter, compared to 7 metres in the original. (updated Jul 2022)
• 3 Sreebhumi Sporting Club, Lake Town. The club holds some of the best Durga Puja pandals in Greater Kolkata every year, with a huge crowd gathering during the festive season. (updated Nov 2022)

Buy

• 1 Diamond Plaza, 68, Jessore Rd, Satgachi. (updated Oct 2022)
• 2 Nagerbazar. (updated Oct 2022)
• 3 Saltee Plaza, 1, Jessore Rd. (updated Oct 2022)

Eat and drink

• 1 Maharaja Bar and Restaurant, ☏ +91 83350 55881. 11AM-11PM. (updated Dec 2022)

Sleep

This guide uses the following price ranges for a standard double room:
Budget	₹1000
Mid-range	₹1000 to ₹3000
Splurge	₹3000

Mid-range

• 1 Hotel Airways, Motilal Colony, Rajbari, ☏ +91 33 2513 2106. 
• 2 Hotel Gateway Continental, ☏ +91 33 2511 8324. 
• 3 Sher-e-Punjab, 151, Jessore Rd, ☏ +91 33 2567 2848, +91 90888 60003. Check-in: noon, check-out: noon. A hotel-cum-restaurant with quality Punjabi dhaba food. Chinese and Thai dishes are also available. AC or open-air seating. Drinks served. 

Splurge

• 4 Airport City, 259, Jessore Rd, ☏ +91 33 2513 3131. ₹3,000-3,700. (updated Nov 2022)
• 5 Ethnotel, 71, Jessore Rd, ☏ +91 33 7101 7000. (updated Sep 2022)
• 6 Holiday Inn Express, 28, Jessore Rd, ☏ +91 62899 01724. (updated Nov 2022)

Cope

Police stations

• 1 Airport Police Station, ☏ +91 33 253193000. 
• Dum Dum Police Station, ☏ +91 33 25514167.