The Sabarna Roy Choudhury's, one of the oldest zamindar families of western Bengal and the trustee of Kalighat Kali Temple lives here.

[8] It is also home to Sourav Ganguly,[9] former Indian national cricket captain and Sovan Chatterjee,[10] the former Mayor of Kolkata.

[12][13] The word Behala is commonly believed to have its root in Behula, the name of the female protagonist of Manasamangalkavya.

[14] Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term Bahulapur ("land of many rivers" or "dark city").

[14] Names like Rajarbaganbehala, Sahapurbehala, Naskarpurbehala and Santoshbatibehala are also found in the old proceedings of South Suburban Municipality.

Huge growth of population especially since the early eighties resulted in the area being on the radar of both the daily wage earners, common populace and educated classes.

Due to this enormous and unplanned growth, the traffic is by and large dependent on the arterial Diamond Harbour Road, in spite of the availability of the parallel James Long Sarani (Commonly known as Rail Line since the old and now defunct Kalighat Falta Railway ran here) as an option.

[19] SL Dhanuka Girls' hostel that has come up at Behala on Diamond Harbour Road, inaugurated on 24 March 2017 by the Chief minister of Bengal Mamata Banerjee.

Majerhat Bridge is one of the major roads connecting Behala to the rest of Calcutta has led to massive traffic snarls in the area.

[25] Former President Ms. Pratibha Patil laid the foundation stone of Joka to Esplanade Metro Rail Project (Purple Line) in presence of Union Finance Minister and Governor of West Bengal in September 2010.

[26] The metro has partially started from Joka to Taratala, and has been inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 30 December 2022.

Some other hospitals in Behala are:- Barisha Chandi Mela, a 10-day fair held every year in November–December since 1792, attracts people from all over the city.

[28] A big Rath Yatra festival and mela also occur every year on Diamond harbour road, Thakurpukur.

Clothes, jewellery, electronic items, sports goods, books and footwear can be found in a multitude of stores all along the stretch from Taratala to Manton.