North 24 Parganas district explained

North 24 Parganas
Settlement Type:District
Total Type:Total
Mapsize:300
Coordinates:22.13°N 88.5°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: India
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1: West Bengal
Subdivision Type2:Division
Subdivision Name2:Presidency
Established Title:Established
Seat Type:Headquarters
Seat:Barasat
Parts Type:Tehsils
Parts Style:para
Area Total Km2:4094
Population As Of:2011
Population Total:10,009,781
Population Urban:5,732,162
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Demographics
Demographics1 Title1:Literacy
Demographics1 Info1:84.95 percent[1]
Demographics1 Title2:Sex ratio
Demographics1 Info2:949
Leader Title:District Magistrate
Leader Name:Sharad Kumar Dwivedi (IAS)
Leader Title1:Lok Sabha constituencies
Leader Name1:Bangaon, Barrackpore, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat
Leader Title2:Vidhan Sabha constituencies
Leader Name2:Bagda, Bangaon Uttar, Bangaon Dakshin, Gaighata, Swarupnagar, Baduria, Habra, Ashoknagar, Amdanga, Bijpur, Naihati, Bhatpara, Jagatdal, Noapara, Barrackpore, Khardaha, Dum Dum Uttar, Panihati, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Dum Dum, Madhyamgram, Barasat,, Rajarhat New Town, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat Gopalpur, Deganga, Haroa, Minakhan, Sandeshkhali, Basirhat Dakshin, Basirhat Uttar, Hingalganj
Timezone1:IST
Utc Offset1:+05:30
Blank Name Sec1:Major highways
Blank Info Sec1:NH 12, NH 112
Blank Name Sec2:Average annual precipitation
Blank Info Sec2:1579 mm
Blank2 Info Sec1: 0.660[2]

North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and from longitude 88º20' east to 89º5' east. Barasat is the district headquarters of North 24 Parganas. North 24 Parganas is West Bengal's most populous district[3] and also (since 2014) the most populated district in the whole of India. It is the tenth-largest district in the State by area.

History

Pre-independence

The territory of Greater 24 Parganas were under the Satgaon (ancient Saptagram, now in Hoogly district) administration during the Mughal era and later it was included in Hoogly chakla (district under post-Mughal Nawabi rule) during the rule of Murshid Quli Khan. In 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, Nawab Mir Jafar conferred the Zamindari of 24 parganas and janglimahals (small administrative units) upon the British East India Company. These Parganas are: 1. Akbarpur, 2. Amirpur, 3. Asimabad, 4. Balia, 5. Baridhati, 6. Basandhari, 7. Birati, 8. Calcutta, 9. Dakshin Sagar, 10. Garh, 11. Hathiagarh, 12. Ikhtiarpur, 13. Kharijuri, 14. Khaspur, 15. Maidanmal or Mednimall, 16. Magura, 17. Mayda, 18. Manpur, 19. Murnagacha, 20. Paika, 21. Pechakul, 22. Satal, 23. Shahnagar, 24. Shahpur, and 25. Uttar Pargana (O'Mally, L.S.S. (1914) Bengal District Gazetteers: 24 Parganas. Page 44). Since then, this entire territory is known as '24 Parganas'.

In 1751, the Company assigned John Zephaniah Holwell as zemindar of the District.[4] In 1759, after the Bengali War of 1756–1757, the Company assigned it to Lord Clive as a personal Jaghir (zamindari) and after his death it again came under the direct authority of the company.

In 1793, during the rule of Lord Cornwallis, entire Sunderbans were in Twentyfour Parganas. In 1802, some parganas on the western banks of river Hoogly were included into it. These parganas were in Nadia earlier. In 1814, a separate collectorate was established in Twenty-four Parganas. In 1817, Falta and Baranagar and in 1820, some portions of Nadia's Balanda and Anwarpur were encompassed to it. In 1824, portions of Barasat, Khulna and Bakhargunge (now in Bangladesh) were also included to it. In 1824, the district headquarters was shifted from Kolkata to Baruipur, but in 1828, it was removed to Alipore. In 1834, the district was split into two districts – Alipore and Barasat, but later these were united again.

In 1905, some portion of this district around the Sunderbans was detached and linked to Khulna and Barishal. These parts remained in Bangladesh territories where Jessore's Bangaon was joined to Twentyfour Pargana after the 1947 partition.

After Independence

In 1980, an administrative reform committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Ashok Mitra suggested splitting the district into two and as per the recommendation of the committee in 1983, on 1 March 1986, two new districts – North 24 Parganas (24 PGS (N)) and South 24 Parganas (24 PGS (S)) were created.The North 24 Parganas which was included in the Presidency division has been formed with five sub-divisions of the Greater 24 Parganas, namely Barasat Sadar (Headquarters), Barrackpore, Basirhat, Bangaon, and Bidhannagar (a satellite township of Kolkata, popularly known as Salt Lake).

On 1 August 2022, the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee announced to create two more districts named Ichamati district consisting of Bangaon subdivision and a yet unnamed district consisting of Basirhat subdivision by bifurcating the district for better development and smooth administration purpose.[5]

Geography

The district lies within the GangaBrahmaputra delta. The major distributary of river Ganga that is river Hooghly flows along the western border of the district. There are many other distributary branches, sub-branches of Ganga river and other local rivers, which include the Ichhamati, Jamuna, and Bidyadhari.

Economy

People are mainly engaged in farming, fishing and other agricultural activities. The average size of agricultural landholdings is about 3.2 Bighas. North 24 Parganas is one of the economically developed districts of West Bengal, but there is chronic poverty in the southern half of the district (the Sundarbans area).

The information technology hub of Kolkata is at this district, which is the centre of some of the notable IT/ITES Indian and multinational companies. Approximately 1,500 companies have their offices in Sector V.[6] Majority of the corporate offices are situated in Sector V and Sector III. Around 3.5 Lakh (by 2017) people are employed in Salt Lake City.

Divisions

Administrative subdivisions

The district comprises five subdivisions: Barrackpore, Barasat Sadar, Basirhat, Bangaon and Bidhannagar.

Barasat is the district headquarters. There are 35 police stations, 22 development blocks, 27 municipalities, 200 gram panchayats and 1599 villages in this district.[7] [8]

Other than municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocks which in turn are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 48 urban units: 27 municipalities and 20 census towns and 1 cantonment board.[8] [9]

Barrackpore subdivision

Barasat Sadar subdivision

Bangaon subdivision

Basirhat subdivision

Bidhannagar subdivision

This subdivision consists of the[7] Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.

Assembly constituencies

As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district is divided into 33 assembly constituencies:[13] [14]

Sl. No. Name Lok Sabha constituencyMLA Party
94Bagdah (SC)BangaonMadhuparna Thakur
95Bangaon Uttar (SC)Ashok Kirtania
96Bangaon Dakshin (SC)Swapan Majumder
97Gaighata (SC)Subrata Thakur
98Swarupnagar (SC)Bina Mondal
99BaduriaBasirhatAbdur Rahim Quazi
100HabraBarasatJyotipriya Mallick
101AshokenagarNarayan Goswami
102AmdangaBarrackporeRafiqur Rahaman
103BijpurSubodh Adhikary
104NaihatiPartha Bhowmick
105BhatparaPawan Singh
106JagatdalSomenath Shyam Ichini
107NoaparaManju Basu
108BarrackporeRaj Chakraborty
109KhardahaDum DumSovandeb Chattopadhyay
110Dum Dum UttarChandrima Bhattacharya
111PanihatiNirmal Ghosh
112KamarhatiMadan Mitra
113BaranagarSayantika Banerjee
114Dum DumBratya Basu
115Rajarhat New TownBarasatTapash Chatterjee
116BidhannagarSujit Bose
117Rajarhat GopalpurDum DumAditi Munshi
118MadhyamgramBarasatRathin Ghosh
119BarasatChiranjeet Chakraborty
120DegangaRahima Mondal
121HaroaBasirhatHaji Nurul Islam
122Minakhan (SC)Usha Rani Mondal
123Sandeshkhali (ST)Sukumar Mahata
124Basirhat DakshinDr. Saptarshi Banerjee
125Basirhat UttarRafikul Islam Mondal
126Hingalganj (SC)Debes Mandal

Education

Universities

Colleges

Schools

Culture

This district is rich in culture. Many famous places like Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Baranagar Math[21] (first monastery of Ramakrishna Order) are situated in this district. Many places of this district are famous for festivals – Helencha, Habra, Barrackpore, Barasat, Naihati and Madhyamgram are for Kali puja, Bangaon, Baranagar, Basirhat are for Durga puja, Ashoknagar Kalyangarh is for Jagatdhatri puja, Berachampa is for Basanti puja etc.

Transport

Railways

The electrified suburban rail network of the ER is extensive and penetrates far and deep into the neighbouring districts of Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly etc.

The Circular Rail encircles the entire city of Kolkata, and also used to provide an offshoot to connect the Dum Dum Airport, but now it is limited up to Dum Dum Cantonment. Jessore Road and Biman Bandar railway stations are closed for the construction work of Noapara–Dum Dum Airport–Barasat Metro rail (Kolkata Metro Line 4).[22]

Metro rail is also a transport medium of this district's people. Four stations of Kolkata Metro Line 1 are located here, Dum Dum metro station at Dum Dum, Baranagar metro station at Baranagar, Dakshineswar metro station at Dakshineswar and Noapara metro station at Noapara, Baranagar.[23]

Airports

See also: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.

The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (IATA code:CCU), which is at Dum Dum (previously known as Dum Dum Airport) in North 24 Parganas, is the only airport serving the city Kolkata. It operates both domestic and international flights. It is a gateway to North-East India, Bangkok, and Bangladesh. The number of people using the airport has consistently increased over the last few years.

Roadways

The road network is fairly well developed. Sparsed across by state-highways, it provides a convenient means of transport. NH 12 connects the district with northern and southern region of the state and its sub road NH 112 connect the district headquarter Barasat with the border town Bangaon and Petrapole, the largest land port of India.

Demographics

See also: List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate.

According to the 2011 census North 24 Parganas district has a population of 10,009,781,[3] [24] roughly equal to the nation of Bolivia[25] or the US state of Michigan.[26] This gave it a ranking of second in India (out of a total of 640) and first in its state.[3] However, in 2014 the Thane district (in Maharashtra), which had been ranked first in India in 2011, was divided into two, thus promoting North 24 Parganas District to first in India. The district has a population density of 2463PD/sqkm.[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 12.86%.[3] North Twenty Four Parganas has a sex ratio of 949 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 84.95%. 57.28% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 21.67% and 2.64% of the population respectively.[3]

Religion

Religion in present-day North 24 Parganas district!Religion!Population (1941)[28] !Percentage (1941)!Population (2011)[29] !Percentage (2011)
927,41857.09%7,396,76973.76%
648,92039.95%2,584,68425.52%
Tribal religion 41,1052.53%2,9300.03%
Others 6,9940.43%69,3980.69%
Total Population1,624,437100%10,009,781100%
Population by religion in CD blocks
CD BlockHinduMuslimOther
Bagdah82.00%17.42%0.58%
Bongaon78.17%20.83%1.00%
Gaighata93.27%6.42%0.31%
Swarupnagar54.85%45.20%0.25%
Habra I73.51%25.81%0.68%
Habra II53.85%45.76%0.39%
Amdanga43.30%56.48%0.22%
Barrackpur I84.38%14.46%1.15%
Barrackpur II77.71%21.45%0.84%
Barasat I57.10%42.08%0.49%
Barasat II30.05%69.68%0.26%
Deganga28.79%70.92%0.29%
Baduria35.35%64.48%0.17%
Basirhat I32.25%67.54%0.22%
Basirhat II31.67%68.10%0.23%
Haroa40.75%59.12%0.12%
Rajarhat59.41%39.89%0.69%
Minakhan49.07%50.40%0.54%
Sandeshkhali I70.00%30.05%0.10%
Sandeshkhali II77.17%22.27%0.55%
Hasnabad46.35%53.51%0.14%
Hingalganj87.97%11.82%0.21%
Area not under any Sub-district89.17%9.84%0.99%

Hinduism is the main religion in the district, and especially dominates urban areas where they are nearly 90% of the population. Most Muslims are rural, and in the rural areas Hindus and Muslims are in equal proportions. In Bongaon and Sandeshkhali regions, Hindus, mainly descendants of refugees from present-day Bangladesh, dominate the rural population. But in the rest of the district, Muslims dominate the rural population.

Languages

According to the 2011 census, 88.91% of the population spoke Bengali, 7.69% Hindi and 2.28% Urdu as their first language.[30]

Flora and fauna

The district is also home to the Bibhutibhushan Wildlife Sanctuary, which was established in 1985 and has an area of 0.6abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[31]

Health facilities

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Provisional Population Totals Paper 1 of 2011 : West Bengal. Census of India. 18 March 2016.
  2. News: West Bengal Human Development Report 2004 . en.
  3. Web site: 2011 . District Census Handbook: North 24 Parganas . censusindia.gov.in . Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  4. McCabe, Joseph (1920) "Holwell, John Zephaniah", A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists, Watts & Co., London, pp. 356–357, p. 357, .
  5. News: West Bengal to get 7 new districts, announces CM Mamata Banerjee . 3 August 2022 . LiveMint . 1 August 2022 . en.
  6. News: Chakraborti . Suman . Soon, smart composting units at Sector V offices Kolkata News . 20 April 2020 . The Times of India.
  7. Web site: Directory of District, Sub division, Panchayat Samiti/ Block and Gram Panchayats in West Bengal, March 2008 . 19 March 2008 . 1 December 2008 . West Bengal . National Informatics Centre, India . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090225032419/http://wbdemo5.nic.in/writereaddata/Directoryof_District_Block_GPs%28RevisedMarch-2008%29.doc . 25 February 2009 . dmy-all.
  8. Web site: District at a glance. Official website of the North 24 Parganas district. 1 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080602171559/http://north24parganas.gov.in/glance.html . 2 June 2008.
  9. Web site: Population, Decadal Growth Rate, Density and General Sex Ratio by Residence and Sex, West Bengal/ District/ Sub District, 1991 and 2001. 1 December 2008. West Bengal. Directorate of census operations.
  10. Web site: Page on Barrackpore subdivision . Official website of North 24 Parganas district . 1 December 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100325040647/http://north24parganas.gov.in/barrackpore.html . 25 March 2010 . dmy-all.
  11. Web site: Change of guard. www.telegraphindia.com.
  12. Web site: bmcwbgov.in. 18 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190806101118/http://www.bmcwbgov.in/index.php/about-us/about-bmc. 6 August 2019. dead.
  13. Web site: Press Note, Delimitation Commission. 21 November 2008 . Assembly Constituencies in West Bengal. Delimitation Commission.
  14. Web site: list of MPs & MLAs of N 24 PGS. 12 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20140118020218/http://north24parganas.gov.in/n24p/page.php?nm=mp_mla. 18 January 2014. dead.
  15. Web site: Assembly under Bangaon Lok Sabha. www.indiastatelections.com.
  16. Web site: ISI Kolkata Campus. 11 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20190703131633/https://www.isical.ac.in/kolcampus.php. 3 July 2019. dead.
  17. Web site: Narula Institute of Technology . NIT . 8 May 2018.
  18. Web site: Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Mahavidyalaya | NAAC Accredited College. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Mahavidyalaya.
  19. Web site: Bagdah High School - Bagdah, North 24 Parganas - Reviews, Fee Structure, Admission Form, Address, Contact, Rating - Directory.
  20. Web site: Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Baranagar Mission. 17 May 2015.
  21. Web site: Brief history of Baranagar Math . Tamakrishna Mission, Baranagar . 8 July 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131118073620/http://www.rkmbaranagar.org/brief_history.php . 18 November 2013 . live . dmy .
  22. Web site: Services End on Kolkata's Circular Railway to Facilitate Metro's Construction. 13 October 2016.
  23. News: Gupta. Jayanta. March 2013 date for Noapara Metro. https://web.archive.org/web/20130904202833/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-21/kolkata/35257399_1_metro-railway-dum-dum-station-new-station. dead. 4 September 2013. 30 May 2013. The Times of India. 21 November 2012.
  24. News: Yeshwantrao. Nitin. Population explosion across Thane district worries officials. 18 March 2016. The Times of India. 1 April 2011.
  25. Web site: US Directorate of Intelligence . Country Comparison:Population . https://web.archive.org/web/20070613004507/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html . dead . 13 June 2007 . 1 October 2011 . Bolivia 10,118,683 July 2011 est. .
  26. Web site: 2010 Resident Population Data. U. S. Census Bureau. 30 September 2011. Michigan 9,883,640 .
  27. Web site: District wise Literacy rate in West Bengal 2001–2011 census. www.updateox.com . 18 March 2016.
  28. Web site: CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI BENGAL PROVINCE . 13 August 2022.
  29. Web site: 2011 . Table C-01 Population by Religion: West Bengal . censusindia.gov.in . Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  30. Web site: Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: West Bengal . www.censusindia.gov.in . Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  31. Web site: Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment. Protected areas: West Bengal. 25 September 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110823163836/http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/envis/envis_pa_network/index.htm. 23 August 2011. dmy-all.