Stop Calling It Tolly’s Nullah. It’s Adi Ganga.
The Issue
Adi Ganga is not a drain.
Adi Ganga is a historic stream of the Ganga flowing through Kolkata — connected to the Hooghly, to old neighbourhoods, temples, ghats, memory, faith and the city’s riverine identity.
On 5th June 2026, World Environment Day, I had the opportunity to participate as a volunteer in the Save Adi Ganga Campaign launched by The Art of Living. The campaign brought together volunteers, citizens and local residents at the ghats to clean, raise awareness, offer prayers and remind Kolkata of something we have forgotten:
Adi Ganga is not a nullah. It is a river.
During the campaign, this sentiment was echoed again and again by volunteers, citizens and local people:
When we call it a nullah, we start treating it like one.
Over time, this living waterbody has been reduced in public language to “Tolly’s Nullah” and, in some places, referred to as “Tolly Canal.” In historical, administrative and local references, parts of the wider waterway and connected channel system have also been referred to by different names, including old canal, creek and khal-based identities.
But these fragmented names have shaped how people see it.
When a sacred river is called a drain, canal or nullah, people begin to treat it like waste infrastructure — not as a living stream of Maa Ganga.
Waste is thrown into it.
Sewage enters it.
Solid waste chokes its flow.
Silt accumulates in its bed.
Encroachments shrink its banks.
Its natural drainage function is weakened.
Its flood-carrying capacity is reduced.
Its ghats are neglected.
Its history is forgotten.
Its dignity is lost.
And slowly, a river disappears from public memory.
As citizens, we too have allowed this to happen — by calling it a nullah, by treating it like one, and by forgetting that this is a sacred, historic and ecological river corridor.
This petition is not about cosmetic renaming.
It is about correcting public memory, public records and public responsibility.
It is also not only about the short urban stretch commonly called Tolly’s Nullah.
Reports and public discussions on Adi Ganga have referred to an approximately 75 km-long historic channel from the Hooghly to the Bay of Bengal. The National Green Tribunal has also taken note of the need to examine how this 75 km channel could be restored.
Therefore, the demand is clear:
The entire historic river corridor of Adi Ganga — from its connection with the Hooghly and onward towards the Bay of Bengal — must be recognised, mapped, demarcated, signposted, protected and rejuvenated as one connected river system.
It must not be treated as broken fragments.
It must not be reduced only to the visibly polluted 15–15.5 km urban stretch.
It must not be publicly remembered only as Tolly’s Nullah, Tolly Canal, a drain, a khal, a creek or a wastewater channel.
Different parts may have different local, historical or administrative references. But the larger identity must be restored:
This is Adi Ganga.
Today, Adi Ganga is not only suffering from a name problem. It is suffering from a river-system problem.
Its flow has been obstructed.
Its channel has been narrowed.
Its bed has been silted.
Its banks have faced pressure from encroachment and unplanned activity.
Its water quality has deteriorated due to sewage and waste inflow.
Its ecological role has been weakened.
Its cultural role has been neglected.
Its public identity has been reduced to that of a drain.
A river cannot be revived only by cleaning a few visible points.
Adi Ganga needs a comprehensive, scientific and people-supported revival plan covering the entire connected river corridor.
We request the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, State Mission for Clean Ganga, National Mission for Clean Ganga, Google Maps and all relevant authorities to ensure that, going forward, this historic river corridor is officially and publicly recognised as:
ADI GANGA
The name Adi Ganga must be used as the primary and rightful name in public records, government communication, signage, project boards, awareness campaigns, civic education material, media communication, restoration plans and digital maps including Google Maps.
The terms “Tolly’s Nullah”, “Tolly Canal” and other drain/canal-based public labels should no longer be used as the primary public identity of this river. Where unavoidable in old legal, archival, mapping, engineering or technical references, they may only be mentioned as:
Adi Ganga, historically / locally referred to in parts as Tolly’s Nullah, Tolly Canal or other canal/khal names.
We also request the authorities to take up a comprehensive Adi Ganga revival approach including:
1. Official recognition of the full Adi Ganga river corridor
Recognise the connected historic channel as Adi Ganga in public records, maps, signage, government communication and restoration plans.
2. Scientific mapping and demarcation
Map the full river corridor, its present width, historic alignment, connected channels, ghats, outfalls, encroachments, silted zones and obstruction points.
3. Encroachment assessment and bank protection
Identify and address encroachments, narrowing of the channel and pressure on the riverbanks through lawful, humane and planned action.
4. Sewage and wastewater interception
Stop untreated sewage and wastewater from entering Adi Ganga through interception, diversion, pumping, treatment and proper operation and maintenance of sewerage infrastructure.
5. Solid waste control
Prevent dumping of plastic, ritual waste, construction debris and household waste into the river through fencing where required, community monitoring, bins, flower-waste collection systems and regular removal of floating waste.
6. Desilting and flow restoration
Undertake scientific desilting, dredging and flow-restoration measures so that the river does not remain choked, stagnant and reduced to a wastewater channel.
7. Water quality monitoring
Publicly monitor and disclose water quality at key points along the river, including parameters such as dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, faecal coliform, visible waste load and flow condition.
8. Ghat restoration and public access
Restore important ghats as clean, safe, respectful public spaces connected to culture, faith, local identity and citizen responsibility.
9. Ecological restoration
Restore suitable riparian vegetation, biodiversity-friendly edges and natural buffers wherever possible, so that the river is treated as a living ecosystem and not only as an engineering drain.
10. Citizen participation and public awareness
Involve local residents, schools, colleges, religious institutions, civil society groups, environmental experts and volunteers in long-term stewardship of Adi Ganga.
We also request the authorities to install strong public signage along the river and its connected stretches, with messages that remind people that this is not a dumping place, but Maa Adi Ganga.
Suggested signage:
“Maa Adi Ganga is our faith, history and responsibility — stop dumping waste into it.”
Where appropriate, the message may also be displayed in Bengali and Hindi so that it reaches local residents, visitors, devotees, vendors and passers-by.
Government agencies have already started important works such as fencing, floating garbage arrestor nets, dredging and pollution-abatement infrastructure. These efforts must continue with urgency, transparency and public participation.
But infrastructure alone cannot save a river if people continue to see it as a drain.
Revival needs more than engineering.
It needs recognition.
It needs demarcation.
It needs pollution control.
It needs encroachment management.
It needs flow restoration.
It needs ecological planning.
It needs cultural memory.
It needs public participation.
It needs administrative seriousness.
And above all, it needs a change in how Kolkata sees this river.
The first restoration must happen in our language.
A river becomes a drain first in our minds. Let us reverse that.
Not Tolly’s Nullah. Not Tolly Canal. It’s Adi Ganga.
Not just a 15 km polluted stretch. A historic river corridor of Ganga.
Not a drain to be forgotten. A river to be recognised, respected and revived.
Recognise the whole. Respect the whole. Restore the whole.
Sign this petition to demand that Adi Ganga be recognised by its rightful name — and protected, restored and rejuvenated with the dignity it deserves.
721
The Issue
Adi Ganga is not a drain.
Adi Ganga is a historic stream of the Ganga flowing through Kolkata — connected to the Hooghly, to old neighbourhoods, temples, ghats, memory, faith and the city’s riverine identity.
On 5th June 2026, World Environment Day, I had the opportunity to participate as a volunteer in the Save Adi Ganga Campaign launched by The Art of Living. The campaign brought together volunteers, citizens and local residents at the ghats to clean, raise awareness, offer prayers and remind Kolkata of something we have forgotten:
Adi Ganga is not a nullah. It is a river.
During the campaign, this sentiment was echoed again and again by volunteers, citizens and local people:
When we call it a nullah, we start treating it like one.
Over time, this living waterbody has been reduced in public language to “Tolly’s Nullah” and, in some places, referred to as “Tolly Canal.” In historical, administrative and local references, parts of the wider waterway and connected channel system have also been referred to by different names, including old canal, creek and khal-based identities.
But these fragmented names have shaped how people see it.
When a sacred river is called a drain, canal or nullah, people begin to treat it like waste infrastructure — not as a living stream of Maa Ganga.
Waste is thrown into it.
Sewage enters it.
Solid waste chokes its flow.
Silt accumulates in its bed.
Encroachments shrink its banks.
Its natural drainage function is weakened.
Its flood-carrying capacity is reduced.
Its ghats are neglected.
Its history is forgotten.
Its dignity is lost.
And slowly, a river disappears from public memory.
As citizens, we too have allowed this to happen — by calling it a nullah, by treating it like one, and by forgetting that this is a sacred, historic and ecological river corridor.
This petition is not about cosmetic renaming.
It is about correcting public memory, public records and public responsibility.
It is also not only about the short urban stretch commonly called Tolly’s Nullah.
Reports and public discussions on Adi Ganga have referred to an approximately 75 km-long historic channel from the Hooghly to the Bay of Bengal. The National Green Tribunal has also taken note of the need to examine how this 75 km channel could be restored.
Therefore, the demand is clear:
The entire historic river corridor of Adi Ganga — from its connection with the Hooghly and onward towards the Bay of Bengal — must be recognised, mapped, demarcated, signposted, protected and rejuvenated as one connected river system.
It must not be treated as broken fragments.
It must not be reduced only to the visibly polluted 15–15.5 km urban stretch.
It must not be publicly remembered only as Tolly’s Nullah, Tolly Canal, a drain, a khal, a creek or a wastewater channel.
Different parts may have different local, historical or administrative references. But the larger identity must be restored:
This is Adi Ganga.
Today, Adi Ganga is not only suffering from a name problem. It is suffering from a river-system problem.
Its flow has been obstructed.
Its channel has been narrowed.
Its bed has been silted.
Its banks have faced pressure from encroachment and unplanned activity.
Its water quality has deteriorated due to sewage and waste inflow.
Its ecological role has been weakened.
Its cultural role has been neglected.
Its public identity has been reduced to that of a drain.
A river cannot be revived only by cleaning a few visible points.
Adi Ganga needs a comprehensive, scientific and people-supported revival plan covering the entire connected river corridor.
We request the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, State Mission for Clean Ganga, National Mission for Clean Ganga, Google Maps and all relevant authorities to ensure that, going forward, this historic river corridor is officially and publicly recognised as:
ADI GANGA
The name Adi Ganga must be used as the primary and rightful name in public records, government communication, signage, project boards, awareness campaigns, civic education material, media communication, restoration plans and digital maps including Google Maps.
The terms “Tolly’s Nullah”, “Tolly Canal” and other drain/canal-based public labels should no longer be used as the primary public identity of this river. Where unavoidable in old legal, archival, mapping, engineering or technical references, they may only be mentioned as:
Adi Ganga, historically / locally referred to in parts as Tolly’s Nullah, Tolly Canal or other canal/khal names.
We also request the authorities to take up a comprehensive Adi Ganga revival approach including:
1. Official recognition of the full Adi Ganga river corridor
Recognise the connected historic channel as Adi Ganga in public records, maps, signage, government communication and restoration plans.
2. Scientific mapping and demarcation
Map the full river corridor, its present width, historic alignment, connected channels, ghats, outfalls, encroachments, silted zones and obstruction points.
3. Encroachment assessment and bank protection
Identify and address encroachments, narrowing of the channel and pressure on the riverbanks through lawful, humane and planned action.
4. Sewage and wastewater interception
Stop untreated sewage and wastewater from entering Adi Ganga through interception, diversion, pumping, treatment and proper operation and maintenance of sewerage infrastructure.
5. Solid waste control
Prevent dumping of plastic, ritual waste, construction debris and household waste into the river through fencing where required, community monitoring, bins, flower-waste collection systems and regular removal of floating waste.
6. Desilting and flow restoration
Undertake scientific desilting, dredging and flow-restoration measures so that the river does not remain choked, stagnant and reduced to a wastewater channel.
7. Water quality monitoring
Publicly monitor and disclose water quality at key points along the river, including parameters such as dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, faecal coliform, visible waste load and flow condition.
8. Ghat restoration and public access
Restore important ghats as clean, safe, respectful public spaces connected to culture, faith, local identity and citizen responsibility.
9. Ecological restoration
Restore suitable riparian vegetation, biodiversity-friendly edges and natural buffers wherever possible, so that the river is treated as a living ecosystem and not only as an engineering drain.
10. Citizen participation and public awareness
Involve local residents, schools, colleges, religious institutions, civil society groups, environmental experts and volunteers in long-term stewardship of Adi Ganga.
We also request the authorities to install strong public signage along the river and its connected stretches, with messages that remind people that this is not a dumping place, but Maa Adi Ganga.
Suggested signage:
“Maa Adi Ganga is our faith, history and responsibility — stop dumping waste into it.”
Where appropriate, the message may also be displayed in Bengali and Hindi so that it reaches local residents, visitors, devotees, vendors and passers-by.
Government agencies have already started important works such as fencing, floating garbage arrestor nets, dredging and pollution-abatement infrastructure. These efforts must continue with urgency, transparency and public participation.
But infrastructure alone cannot save a river if people continue to see it as a drain.
Revival needs more than engineering.
It needs recognition.
It needs demarcation.
It needs pollution control.
It needs encroachment management.
It needs flow restoration.
It needs ecological planning.
It needs cultural memory.
It needs public participation.
It needs administrative seriousness.
And above all, it needs a change in how Kolkata sees this river.
The first restoration must happen in our language.
A river becomes a drain first in our minds. Let us reverse that.
Not Tolly’s Nullah. Not Tolly Canal. It’s Adi Ganga.
Not just a 15 km polluted stretch. A historic river corridor of Ganga.
Not a drain to be forgotten. A river to be recognised, respected and revived.
Recognise the whole. Respect the whole. Restore the whole.
Sign this petition to demand that Adi Ganga be recognised by its rightful name — and protected, restored and rejuvenated with the dignity it deserves.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 11 June 2026