| Voice of North Dinajpur
: Dasudeg Bhattacharya
North DinajpurDistrict
Area, Population & Sex Ratio
Geographical Area : 3140.0 Km2
Population in North Dinajpur(Census 2011)
Under 6 population
Total : 469971
Male : 241547
Female : 228424
Disabled population
Total disabled population : 40900
In seeing : 17784
In speech : 4764
In hearing : 3651
In movement : 10409
Mental : 4292
Rank ( VoiceOfBharat.org Analysis
)
Backwardness : 97
Sex Ratio Rank : 287
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : A
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Disability : 216 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 526 (Census 2001)
Minority : Yes
Water : Flouride in Groundwater above permissible limits
Brief About North Dinajpur District
North Dinajpur
The district of Uttar Dinajpur (uttar meaning North) came into existence
on 1992-04-01 after the bifurcation of erstwhile West Dinajpur District.
The District lies between latitude 25°11' N to 26°49' N
and longitude 87°49' E to 90°00' E occupying an area of
3142 km2 enclosed by Bangladesh on the east, Bihar on the west,
Darjeeling District and Jalpaiguri District on the north and Malda
District and South Dinajpur District on the south. Uttar Dinajpur
is well connected with the rest of the state through National Highways,
State Highways and Railways. NH-31 and NH-34 pass through the heart
of the district.
The regional topography is generally flat with
a gentle southerly slope towards which the main rivers like Kulik,
Nagar, Mahananda. The District forms a part of the basin lying between
Rajmahal hills on the east. The older alluvium is estimated to be
Pleistocene age. Uttar Dinajpur is bestowed with a very fertile
soil.The soil is very rich in nature due to the alluvial deposition
which helps to grow Paddy, Jute, Mesta and Sugarcane etc. Raiganj
on the banks of the River Kulik is the District Headquarters where
the "Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary", the second largest bird
sanctuary in Asia, is situated.
In Uttar Dinajpur district, there are 2 sub-divisions,
Raiganj and Islampur, 110 km apart from each other. There are 4
Municipalities, 9 Blocks and 99 Panchayats covering 1577 villages.
The total population is nearly 25 lakh (2.5 million), comprising
mainly of rural masses. Bengali is the main language but a sizeable
number of Urdu and Hindi speaking people live in Islampur sub-division.
Profile
In Uttar Dinajpur District there are 2 Sub-Divisions
Raiganj & Islampur , 110Km apart from each other. District having
border length of 227 km (approx) in the east with Bangladesh. There
are 4 Municipalities,9 Blocks and 98 Panchayats covering 1516 villages.The
total population is nearly 25 Lakh comprising mainly of rural masses.Bengali
is the main language but a sizeable portion of Urdu and Hindi speaking
people live in Islampur Sub-Division.
The Climate of this district is characterised by
Hot-Summer with High Humidity,abundant Rainfall and Cold Winter.The
Summer begins from April.
Uttar Dinajpur / North Dinajpur
On 1st April, 1992, North Dinajpur was granted the status of a separated
district of North Bengal by dividing West Dinajpur district. The
district is bounded by Bangladesh on the east; Bihar on the west;
Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri on the North and Malda to the South. The
rivers of Kulik, Nagar and Mahananda flow through the district and
provide great fertility to the soil; paddy, jute and sugarcane are
grown in large numbers here.
Raiganj and Islampur are the two main sub-divisions comprising mainly
of Bengali speaking population while Islampur has a large number
of Urdu and Hindi speaking people.
Tourist spots in North Dinajpur
• Sap-nikla forest, located 22 km from Islampur where visitors
can visit the lake and forest for sight seeing.
• Karnajora Museum and park
• Burhana Fakir’s Mosque
• Goddess Kali’s temple at Baira
• Malgaon and Kunore – Famous for terracotta
work
• Goddess Bhairabi’s temple at Bindore
Raiganj
The headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district, Raiganj is a municipal
town since 1951 and one of the major trade centers in North Bengal
having National Highway-34 passing through it. Raiganj is 425 km
from Kolkata and 181kms from Siliguri. The Kulik Bird Sanctuary
is principal attraction of Raiganj. The vast and beautiful swamp
land on the bank of a small river named Kulik provides home to thousands
of migratory birds including Open-Billed Storks, Night Herons, Egrets
and Cormorants and indigenous birds as well. The sanctuary at Kulik
draws thousands of tourists every year to Raiganj.
Raiganj Bird Sanctuary is located along the National
Highway and lies beside the Kulik River covering an area of 35 acres.
It is the second largest bird sanctuary in Asia where migratory
birds like open-bill storks, night-herons, cormorants and egrets
coming from South Asian countries and coastal areas hang around.
Here you can also find local birds like bulbul, kingfisher, dove,
sparrow, woodpeckers and many other species foraging for food and
shelter.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Altitude: 30 metres above sea level.
Temperature (deg C): Summer- Max. 25, Min. 21; Winter- Max. 23,
Min. 09.
Rainfall: 155 cms (July to September).
Languages spoken: Bengali, Hindi, English.
Best season: Throughout the year but preferably October to March.
Islampur
AREA: 343 Sq. KM
POPULATION: 27, 00,000 approx.
Islampur is a small town in the district of North Dinajpur, located
110 km from Raiganj. The town primarily consists of a Muslim population,
which is almost 98 per cent. The rivers of old Brahmaputra and Yamuna
flow through the region. Archeological sites consist of the tomb
of Hazrat Shah Kamal at Durmuth and war memorial at Musharafganj.
The economy is agriculture based and a high percentage of the people
work as agricultural labourers; many flock to the nearby towns to
work as wage labourers in construction and masonry. Fishing, commerce,
services and trade comprises a small portion of the economy. Crops
like paddy, jute, sugarcane, mustard seed, wheat, vegetables and
pulses are grown. Also, fruits like mango, coconut, papaya, banana
and jackfruit are grown in abundance.
Due to the relative isolation of Islampur and lack of education
in the people, it has not made much progress economically compared
to other districts and towns of North Bengal.
Places
North Bengal is truly a treasure hunt for the nature
lovers,
especially for those who are looking for a periodical escape from
the hectic chores of the modern city life. Lying in the Northern
half of the State of West Bengal and encircled by international
boundaries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, North Bengal offers
a unique combination of varied landscape - from high mountainous
region in the extreme north to the vast Gangetic plains in the extreme
south.
The geographical diversity blended with the cultures
of different ethnic groups has placed North Bengal in the most treasured
tourist destinations in Northeast India. North Bengal comprises
of six districts- Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Coochbihar, North Dinajpur,
South Dinajpur and Malda.
The landscape, history and cultures of each district
have a distinguished character. While nature has showered his bountiful
beauties in Darjeeling with great Himalayan ranges passing through
it, Jalpaiguri, lying in the sub-Himalayan foothills, presents a
rich biodiversity with dense forests, varied faunal and floral live
forms.
Coochbihar is a city of old palaces of Koch kings, with temples
and large water bodies. North and South Dinajpur are basically agricultural
plains and Malda again is an old civilization and has its own importance
from the archeological point of view for the famous ruins of Gour
kingdom.
From tourism aspects North Bengal has immense potential to cater
the needs of all kinds of travelers. For luxurious leisure tours,
adventures high and low altitude treks, exciting jungle safari,
elephant safari, daring white water rafting, remote village tourism,
ethnic tourism, cultural tourism, angling tour, ornithology tour,
heritage tour and much more North Bengal is just the place one needs
to go.
Agriculture Sector in District
This newly constructed district is preliminarily
agricultural in nature. Here, due to its diverse and surplus production
of various crops like Tea, Jute, Potato, Ginger, Spices and Pineapple
etc. the district has a strong base for agro based and horticulture-
based industry.
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