Malda, West Bengal

Malda or English Bazar is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the sixth largest city (urban agglomeration) in West Bengal.[6] It is the headquarters of the Malda district as well as of the Malda division of West Bengal. It consists of two municipalities, viz. English Bazar Municipality and Old Malda Municipality, under Malda Metropolitan Area. The city is located on the banks of the Mahananda River. Malda was an undeveloped city which was enlarging from 1925 to 1930. The city is growing rapidly nowadays with its population inching towards half a million.

Not to be confused with Malta or Moldova.

Malda
Old Malda, English Bazar
City
Malda City Skyline view
Malda City Skyline view
Nickname: 
Mango City
Malda is located in West Bengal
Malda
Malda
Location in West Bengal, India
Malda is located in India
Malda
Malda
Malda (India)
Malda is located in Asia
Malda
Malda
Malda (Asia)
Coordinates: 25.0119°N 88.1433°E / 25.0119; 88.1433
Country India
State West Bengal
DistrictMalda
DivisionMalda
Railway StationMalda Town railway station
Total Wards49
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyEnglish Bazar Municipality
Old Malda Municipality
 • ChairmanKrishnendu Narayan Choudhury
 • ChairmanKartik Ghosh
Area
[1]
 • City13.25 km2 (5.12 sq mi)
 • Urban
[2]
22.79 km2 (8.80 sq mi)
 • Metro
206.6 km2 (79.8 sq mi)
Elevation
17 m (56 ft)
Population
 (2011)[3]
 • City216,083
 • Rank6th in West Bengal
 • Density16,000/km2 (42,000/sq mi)
 • Urban
[2]
300,088
 • Metro
324,237
DemonymMaldabasi
Languages
 • OfficialBengali[4][5]
 • Additional officialEnglish[4]
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
732101, 732102, 732103, 732141, 732142, 732128
Telephone code91-3512-2xxxxx
Vehicle registrationWB-65/WB-66
Lok Sabha constituencyMaldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin
Vidhan Sabha constituencyMalda, English Bazar
RiverMahananda River
Websitewww.englishbazarmunicipality.com

Etymology

The name English Bazar is a calque of Angrezābād ("English-town"), applied in the 17th century to the surroundings of the English factory.[7]

Geography

Location

Malda is located at 25.0119°N 88.1433°E / 25.0119; 88.1433.[8] It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). It is situated on both the western and eastern banks of the river Mahananda.

Climate

Like the most other places in West Bengal, the weather of Malda is usually extremely humid and tropical. Temperatures can reach as high as 42 °C (108 °F) during the day in May and June and fall as low as 8 °C (46 °F) overnight in December and January. Malda's highest recorded temperature was 45.0 °C (113.0 °F) on 27 May 1958 and lowest recorded temperature was 3.9 °C (39.0 °F) on 3 February 1905.

In Malda, the average annual temperature is 26.4 °C (79.5 °F). Precipitation is about 1,554 mm (61.2 in) per year. The driest month is December. There is 4.3 mm (0.17 in) of precipitation in December. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs in July, with an average of 352 mm (13.9 in).

Climate data for Malda (1981–2010, Extremes 1901–2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 32.5
(90.5)		 37.8
(100.0)		 41.7
(107.1)		 44.1
(111.4)		 45.0
(113.0)		 44.4
(111.9)		 38.7
(101.7)		 40.0
(104.0)		 40.9
(105.6)		 40.5
(104.9)		 34.4
(93.9)		 31.7
(89.1)		 45.0
(113.0)
Mean maximum °C (°F) 27.9
(82.2)		 32.2
(90.0)		 37.8
(100.0)		 40.7
(105.3)		 40.6
(105.1)		 39.3
(102.7)		 36.1
(97.0)		 35.9
(96.6)		 35.6
(96.1)		 34.6
(94.3)		 32.7
(90.9)		 29.3
(84.7)		 42.1
(107.8)
Average high °C (°F) 24.2
(75.6)		 28.2
(82.8)		 33.3
(91.9)		 36.2
(97.2)		 35.6
(96.1)		 34.4
(93.9)		 32.5
(90.5)		 32.7
(90.9)		 32.5
(90.5)		 31.9
(89.4)		 30.0
(86.0)		 26.3
(79.3)		 31.5
(88.7)
Average low °C (°F) 12.2
(54.0)		 15.3
(59.5)		 19.3
(66.7)		 23.0
(73.4)		 24.8
(76.6)		 26.0
(78.8)		 26.3
(79.3)		 26.4
(79.5)		 25.9
(78.6)		 23.7
(74.7)		 19.1
(66.4)		 14.2
(57.6)		 21.4
(70.5)
Mean minimum °C (°F) 8.9
(48.0)		 11.5
(52.7)		 15.2
(59.4)		 18.7
(65.7)		 20.6
(69.1)		 23.0
(73.4)		 23.8
(74.8)		 24.2
(75.6)		 23.5
(74.3)		 20.5
(68.9)		 15.3
(59.5)		 11.0
(51.8)		 8.7
(47.7)
Record low °C (°F) 4.1
(39.4)		 3.9
(39.0)		 7.2
(45.0)		 11.1
(52.0)		 13.7
(56.7)		 18.0
(64.4)		 18.5
(65.3)		 19.3
(66.7)		 17.9
(64.2)		 11.7
(53.1)		 8.3
(46.9)		 5.0
(41.0)		 3.9
(39.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 10.4
(0.41)		 12.3
(0.48)		 16.6
(0.65)		 41.7
(1.64)		 129.5
(5.10)		 240.3
(9.46)		 352.0
(13.86)		 307.1
(12.09)		 308.1
(12.13)		 119.9
(4.72)		 12.0
(0.47)		 4.3
(0.17)		 1,554.3
(61.19)
Average rainy days 0.8 1.3 1.4 2.7 6.3 11.2 15.3 14.4 12.8 4.7 0.6 0.7 72.0
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) 63 54 47 51 58 69 75 74 76 71 65 65 64
Source: India Meteorological Department[9][10][11]

Demographics
See also: List of cities in West Bengal by population

As of the 2011 census, Malda metropolitan city had a total population of 324,237.[12]

As of the 2011 census, English Bazar municipality had a population of 216,083.[3] The municipality had a sex ratio of 877 females per 1,000 males and 14.9% of the population were under six years old.[3] Effective literacy was 84.69%; male literacy was 85.44% and female literacy was 83.86%.[3]

As of 2001 India census,[13] Old Malda Municipality had a population of 62,944. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Old Malda has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 54%. In Old Malda, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Religion

As of 2011 census, the majority of the population of the English Bazar municipality were Hindus with 86.95% adherents, followed by 11.02% Muslims and small populations of Sikhs and Christians.[14]

Civic administration

There are two municipalities in Malda, i.e. the English Bazar Municipality and the Old Malda Municipality.

The municipality of English Bazar is divided into 29 wards. The Trinamool Congress (with 25 councillors) holds the power in this municipality (as of 2022).

The municipality of Old Malda is divided into 20 wards.[15]

Transport

Road
A busy Rathbari Junction Night View

NH 12 crosses through the city. The Gour Kanya Bus Terminus serves as the bus depot for both private buses and government bus service operated by the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC).

Rail
Malda Town Railway Station
Malda Tourist Lodge (Amarapali)

There are four railway stations which serves the metropolitan city. Malda Town railway station serves the English Bazar area; Old Malda Junction serves the Old Malda area; Malda Court serves Mangalbari and Naldubi area, and Gour Malda serves Mahadipur and Gauḍa (Gour) area.

Air

Malda Airport (IATA: LDA, ICAO: VEMH) was closed in 1972 due to the Bangladesh War. Before that there were direct daily flights from Malda to Kolkata, Delhi, and Guwahati. In 2014, direct helicopter services were started between Malda and Kolkata, by the government of West Bengal. As of 2017, the airport is under construction and the flight service will start very soon but the construction work has not been started yet.

Education
Malda Town
Nimasarai Minar

University

Colleges
General degree colleges
Engineering colleges
The main building of the University of Gour Banga
Polytechnic colleges
Medical colleges

Schools

Some of the notable high schools of the city include Kendriya Vidyalaya Malda (Co-education)

Boys' high schools
A.C. Institution during prize ceremony
Girls' high schools
Rail schools
English medium schools

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "English Bazar Municipality".
  2. "Old Malda Municipality".
  3. "Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011; Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  4. "Fact and Figures". www.wb.gov.in. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  5. "52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. p. 85. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  7. Yule, Henry; Burnell, Arthur (1903). "E". Hobson-Jobson (New ed.). London: William Crooke, B.A. p. 344. English-Bazar
  8. "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Ingraj Bazar,India". fallingrain.com.
  9. "Station: Malda, Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 465–466. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  10. "Climate for Malda city". Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  11. "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M238. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  12. "Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011; Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  13. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  14. "C-1 Population By Religious Community". census.gov.in. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  15. Maitra, Subhro (25 March 2015). "Battle of couples in Malda civic polls". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2023.

Further reading
  • Chakrabarti D.K. (1992). Notes on the archaeology of Maldaha and West Dinajpur districts, West Bengal. South Asian Studies, 9:pp. 123–135

Gour-Pandua travel guide from Wikivoyage

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