History
Tollygunge is named after Major William Tolly, the Ferdinand de Lesseps of Calcutta, who in 1775-76 started a project to excavate and dredge the Tolly's Nullah (Adi Ganga) (also named for him) as a passage for the people of East Bengal and Assam to Calcutta. He was also granted a license to collect tolls from the passing boats and permitted to open a gunj or market on the eastern bank of the nullah by the British East India Company.
The dream project of Major Tolly became fully alive in 1776 and subsequently it was opened to navigation in 1777. Since then, this 17 mile long canal is known as Tolly's Nullah and the market of Major Tolly as Tollygunge which was somewhere near Tollygunge Road on the eastern bank of this Nullah. Now a large area on both sides of the Nullah bears the name Tollygunge.
Today, Tollygunge is one of the premium localities of Kolkata. Tollywood, the centre of the Bengali film industry, is at Tollygunge.
It is one of the most rapidly developing areas of Kolkata.
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