Nimtita

Two cousins, Gour Sundar and Dwarikanath Choudhury purchased large tracts of land and established the Nimtita Estate around 1866–67. "They were popular in the area, and were known for their love of music and theatre. Gour Sundar’s son, Upendra Narayan… was known to be somewhat unhinged. But it was Dwarikanath’s elder son, Mahendra Narayan, who put Nimtita on the cultural map… Mahendra Narayan spent a small fortune to build the Hindu Theatre, a playhouse with all the bells and whistles of its Calcutta counterparts, to the east of the Rajbari. There, every year on the occasion of Dol Jatra... the festival of colour to mark the onset of spring, a play would be staged starring the biggest names of the day." However, things started changing in 1943, when the river veered to within yards of the Rajbari, "swallowing up much of the village, the front lawn, the football field, the guest house, the stables and the Hindu Theatre. The house itself was miraculously spared." The Rajbari survived but 1955 saw the abolition of the zamindari system. The estate collapsed and things started decaying. There were pleasant breaks – Satyajit Ray came to shoot films here (see below for more details) and Renuka Ray made the Rajbari her election campaign headquarters – but for all practical purposes, it had reached the end of its glorious chapter.[1]

Note:Nimtita Rajbari is located on the banks of the Ganges, near Jagtai.

According to the 2011 Census of India, Nimtita had a total population of 2,068, of which 1,011 (49%) were males and 1,057 (50%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 262. The total number of literate persons in Nimtita was 1,031 (57.09% of the population over 6 years).[12]

Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop incl. Nalhati–Azimganj branch line
km km Sahibganj loop Barharwa Junction 00 Sahibganj loop 5 Bonidanga Bansloi River 9 Bindubasini Halt Jharkhand West Bengal border Farakka-Kahalgaon NTPC freight loop 13 Tildanga NTPC Farakka 18 Barsoi–New Farakka section Farakka Feeder Canal Farakka Barrage across Ganges River Farakka 23 18 New Farakka 23 Ballalpur 28 Sankopara Halt NH 33 33 Dhulian Ganga 36 Hausnagar 39 Basudebpur Halt 43 Nimtita 49 Sujnipara Farakka Feeder Canal 56 Ahiran Halt 63 Jangipur Road 69 Gankar Sonar Bangla Cement Factory Siding 74 STPS Siding 77 Manigram 82 Naopara Mahishasur 86 Mahipal Halt 88 Mahipal Road 92 Poradanga Gosaingram 04 96 0 Azimganj City Barala 10 98 Azimganj Junction Sagardighi 18 to Jiaganj (under construction) NH 12 102 Dahapara Dham Halt Morgram 25 104 Lalbag Court Road Lohapur 31 110 Niyalish Para Takipur 37 NH 12 Sahibganj loop 112 Khagraghat Road 118 Jibanti Nalhati Junction 44 123 Karna Subarna Sahibganj loop 130 Kanthaliya Road Sainthia Junction 81 0 Andal–Sainthia branch line Sahibganj loop Kandi 40 Chowrigacha–Sainthia new line (planned) 133 57 Chowrigacha Dwarka River 137 Kazipara Halt 140 Bazarsau 143 Miangram Dwarka River 147 Tenya 151 Malihati Talibpur Road 154 Salar 157 Jhamatpur Baharan Sahibganj loop 160 Gangatikuri Ahmadpur Junction 94 0 163 Shiblun Ahmadpur–Katwa line Sahibganj loop 167 48 Nabagram Kankurhati Halt Ajay River Bardhaman–Katwa line 171 52 Katwa Bandel–Katwa line km km

Nimtita railway station has the station code NILE. In normal times many trains stopped at this station.[13]

Nimtita G.D. Institution is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1913. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. The school has a playground and a library with 1,500 books.[14]

Nimtita Rajbari, on the bank of the Ganges, is now a dilapidated structure, a testimony of a glorious past. It had inspired Tarashankar Bandopadhyay to write a short-story about a man who refused to change with the times. He saw the mighty river gobble up his estates, but would not give up. Satyajit Ray made one of his great films based on that story – Jalsaghar, with the legendary Chhabi Biswas in the lead role. It was shot at Nimtita Rajbari in 1957, and then the maestro followed it up with the shooting of Devi in 1960 and Samapti in 1961. The Rajbari was obviously in a great shape in those days. The ruins are now in danger of being devoured by the river.[15][1]

Samserganj CD block is one of the areas of Murshidabad district where ground water is affected by a high level of arsenic contamination. The WHO guideline for arsenic in drinking water is 10 mg/ litre, and the Indian Standard value is 50 mg/ litre. The maximum concentration in Samserganj CD block is 287 mg/litre.[16]

• River bank erosion along the Ganges in Malda and Murshidabad districts