The article sheds light on the Adi Ganga, one of the most significant streams of the Ganges in its lower course, and narrates how the stream (later Tolly’s Canal) which was once the life line of Kolkata transformed into a mere sewer and was ruthlessly slaughtered with the changing politicoeconomic interests of the state.

The quality of breeding sites is reflected through the pupal productivity and the life history traits of Aedes mosquitoes. Using nutrient reserves and pupal productivity of Aedes as indicators, the larval habitats including sewage drains were characterized to highlight the habitat expansion and vector management. The pupae and adults collected from the containers and sewage drains were characterized in terms of biomass and nutrient reserves and the data were subjected to three way factorial ANOVA.

Cr, Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Cu, Co and Fe content in the surface sediments was studied at three sites along a 20 km stretch on the Bidyadhari River (situated at the gateway to Indian Sundarban mangrove ecosystem) starting from the sewage outfall zone of the Kolkata metropolis (northern limit of Sundarban) during the dry (March) and wet (August) seasons in the year 2011.