[5] The first girls' school of the Howrah district with Indian management was established in Santragachhi in 1863, with a small grant from the government.
The number has increased in recent years, as migratory birds have started to avoid destinations like the lakes in Alipore Zoo, Kolkata.
[13] Birds like sarus crane from North America and Australia,[13] gadwall, northern shoveller, northern pintail, garganey from north of the Himalayas[14] and many other local migratory birds such as cotton pygmy goose and knob-billed duck are spotted here during this season.
[14] The lake area is owned by South Eastern Railway, though the Forest Department of West Bengal also looks after the place.
[14][15] The Forest Ministry of the State Government of West Bengal intends to convert the lake to a wildlife conservation centre.
[17] At this time, the 3-mile-long (5 km) short branch from Santragachi to Shalimar Station was also created to redirect heavy traffic of export goods, for further carrying them to Kidderpore dock in Kolkata via large ferry steamers.
There are plans of developing Santragachi Junction into a full-fledged terminal, with more trains originating and departing from here, over the next 3–4 years to reduce congestion at Howrah Station.
Santragachi has a big bus terminus having buses like Barasat-Newtown-Santragachi, Barasat-Ultadanga-Santragachi, KB15 (Santragachi-Anandapur), EB1A (to Belgharia), VS12 (to New Town) etc.
[19] Kolkata Central Bus Terminus, spread over 12.38 acres (5.01 ha) of land, is the result of the joint efforts by the state transport department, HRBC and KMDA.
A 10 km (6.2 mi) east-west Metro extension project from Howrah Maidan up to Santragachi bus terminus has been planned and up to Dhulagarh has been proposed.