Kultali
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Kultali কুল্তলি |
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|---|---|
| Town | |
 Kultali
Location in West Bengal, India
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| Coordinates: 21°54′N 88°24′E / 21.9°N 88.40°ECoordinates: 21°54′N 88°24′E / 21.9°N 88.40°E | |
| Country |
 India
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| State | West Bengal |
| District | South 24 Parganas |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 187,942 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali, English |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sex ratio | 932 ♂/♀ |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Jaynagar (SC) |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Kultali (SC) |
| Website | s24pgs |
Kultali is a town with a police station in Baruipur subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. While the poverty-stricken area is struggling for development, it is beset with crime. Violent clashes mark out the area as politically volatile.
Kultali is one of the largest islands in the Sundarbans. The islands in the area are accessible only by boat. About 85% of the population is very poor. They eke out an existence collecting non- timber forest produce like tiger prawn seeds, fishing, vending vegetables and fish, and by working for a daily wage.
Ambikanagar, a remote village near Kultali is notorious for smuggling and piracy. Timber smuggling in the region has reached its peak. At times, fishermen are kidnapped by pirates.
Main livelihood is on Agriculture.
Around 20,000 kg of honey is collected every year from forests of Sundarbans. Mostly people from the Kultali, Joynagar, Basanti, Gosaba and Canning are honey collectors. The number of honey collectors has dwindled from around 1,500 a few years back to around 700 in 2007. From 1985 through 2004, about 75 honey collectors were killed by tigers in the forests. Now all honey collectors are insured for Rs. 50,000. The forest department has also intensified vigilance during the honey collection period. The range officers and guards are on full alert. No deaths have been reported since 2004.
From 1982, the services and programs provided by Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha have grown to include two crèches for infants, a sustainable agriculture project, agro-equipment support service, community grain bank, savings and micro-credit ventures, disaster mitigation and emergency relief services, rural library and literacy programs. BTS serves nearly 2,800 households out of the estimated 25,000 households on Kultali.
Although groundwater in South 24 Parganas district is affected by arsenic contamination, the Kultali area is not facing the problem.
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Wikipedia