Dum Dum is a major residential and industrial suburb of Kolkata. It is a conurbation of small towns located to the north-west of the capital city, in West Bengal. Dum Dum is around 22 km away from the city center.
Dum Dum, in the 19th century, was home to the British Royal Artillery Armory. The place derives its name after the once infamous Dum Dum bullets which were made here in large numbers and which the British thought was necessary in countering the Afridi tribes in Khyber Pass. The Dum Dum shells were designed to explode once inside the body inflicting severe damage to the tissues.
Dum Dum bullets were banned in the first International Peace Conference in The Hague in 1899 and the ban literally holds even today.
Hotel Airport Ashok, Hotel MBD Airport, Lytton Hotel and North Star Hotel are situated within 4 km radius of Dum Dum.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is located at Dum Dum. It is also the northern terminus of the Metro Railway.
