River Hooghly

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The Hooghly River (alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) is a distributary of the Ganges River in India. It splits from the Ganges near the city of Baharampur, and runs south through the Indian state of West Bengal, past the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, to empty into the Bay of Bengal. Two of its well known tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan.

It is an essential lifeline for the people of Kolkata. The fish from the river are important to the local economy. The river's presence is one of the reasons chosen by the British to settle there. The French colony at Chandannagar on the Hoogli was once the rival of British Calcutta, but was eclipsed by Calcutta in the colonial wars of the 18th century. The modern container port of Haldia, on the lower Hoogli, now carries much of the region's maritime trade.

Several bridges run over the Hooghly at Kolkata; the Howrah Bridge, the Vidyasagar Setu and the Vivekananda Setu bridges.

The town of Hooghly is located on the river, in the district of the same name. The origins of the name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first.

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