North 24 Parganas district

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.

North 24 Parganas
District
Clockwise from top-left: Mangal Pandey Park in Barrackpore Cantonment, Matua Mahasangha headquarters in Thakurnagar, Lal Masjid in Berachampa, Baranagar Ramakrishna Mission, Chandraketugarh, Dakshineswar Kali temple
Location of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal
Location of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal
Coordinates: 22°08′N 88°30′E
Country India
State West Bengal
DivisionPresidency
HeadquartersBarasat
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituenciesBangaon, Barrackpore, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat
 • Vidhan Sabha constituenciesBagda, 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, Rajarhat Gopalpur, Deganga, Haroa, Minakhan, Sandeshkhali, Basirhat Dakshin, Basirhat Uttar, Hingalganj
Area
 • Total4,094 km2 (1,581 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total10,009,781
 • Density2,400/km2 (6,300/sq mi)
Demographics
 • Literacy84.95 percent[1]
 • Sex ratio949
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Major highwaysNH 12, NH 112
HDI (2004)Increase 0.660[2] (medium)
Average annual precipitation1579 mm
Websitewww.north24parganas.gov.in

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

Economy
Omega and Infinity Benchmark, office buildings in Salt Lake, Kolkata
The Bengal Intelligent Park in Sector V.
The Cognizant Technology Solutions office in Sector V.

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
Administrative Map of North 24 Parganas

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 constituencyMLAParty
94 Bagdah (SC) Bangaon Biswajit Das All India Trinamool Congress
95 Bangaon Uttar (SC) Ashok Kirtania Bharatiya Janata Party
96 Bangaon Dakshin (SC) Swapan Majumder Bharatiya Janata Party
97 Gaighata (SC) Subrata Thakur Bharatiya Janata Party
98 Swarupnagar (SC) Bina Mondal All India Trinamool Congress
99 Baduria Basirhat Abdur Rahim Quazi All India Trinamool Congress
100 Habra Barasat Jyotipriya Mallick All India Trinamool Congress
101 Ashokenagar Narayan Goswami All India Trinamool Congress
102 Amdanga Barrackpore Rafiqur Rahaman All India Trinamool Congress
103 Bijpur Subodh Adhikary All India Trinamool Congress
104 Naihati Partha Bhowmick All India Trinamool Congress
105 Bhatpara Pawan Singh Bharatiya Janata Party
106 Jagatdal Somenath Shyam Ichini All India Trinamool Congress
107 Noapara Manju Basu All India Trinamool Congress
108 Barrackpore Raj Chakraborty All India Trinamool Congress
109 Khardaha Dum Dum Sovandeb Chattopadhyay All India Trinamool Congress
110 Dum Dum Uttar Chandrima Bhattacharya All India Trinamool Congress
111 Panihati Nirmal Ghosh All India Trinamool Congress
112 Kamarhati Madan Mitra All India Trinamool Congress
113 Baranagar Tapas Roy All India Trinamool Congress
114 Dum Dum Bratya Basu All India Trinamool Congress
115 Rajarhat New Town Barasat Tapash Chatterjee All India Trinamool Congress
116 Bidhannagar Sujit Bose All India Trinamool Congress
117 Rajarhat Gopalpur Dum Dum Aditi Munshi All India Trinamool Congress
118 Madhyamgram Barasat Rathin Ghosh All India Trinamool Congress
119 Barasat Chiranjeet Chakraborty All India Trinamool Congress
120 Deganga Rahima Mondal All India Trinamool Congress
121 Haroa Basirhat Haji Nurul Islam All India Trinamool Congress
122 Minakhan (SC) Usha Rani Mondal All India Trinamool Congress
123 Sandeshkhali (ST) Sukumar Mahata All India Trinamool Congress
124 Basirhat Dakshin Dr. Saptarshi Banerjee All India Trinamool Congress
125 Basirhat Uttar Rafikul Islam Mondal All India Trinamool Congress
126 Hingalganj (SC) Debes Mandal All India Trinamool Congress

Education

Universities
Indian Statistical Institute, Baranagar
West Bengal State University, located at Barasat, the main general degree university of the district

Colleges
Narula Institute of Technology

Schools
Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama High School

Culture
Dakshineswar Kali Temple
Durga idol at a pandel in Baranagar

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
Cityside view of the new Integrated Terminal of 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
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
19011,016,001—    
19111,166,158+1.39%
19211,239,719+0.61%
19311,357,831+0.91%
19411,711,806+2.34%
19512,114,097+2.13%
19613,127,685+3.99%
19714,207,420+3.01%
19815,529,497+2.77%
19917,281,881+2.79%
20018,934,286+2.07%
201110,009,781+1.14%
source:[24]

According to the 2011 census North 24 Parganas district has a population of 10,009,781,[3][25] roughly equal to the nation of Bolivia[26] or the US state of Michigan.[27] 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 2,463 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,380/sq mi).[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]

  • Population Density: 2959 per square km
  • Sex ratio: 982 females per 1000 males
  • Growth Rate (1991–2000): 24.64% (approximately 2.5% per annum)
  • Literacy rate (excluding 0–6 age group), in percentage: 87.66 (highest in West Bengal).[28]
    • Male: 93.14; Female: 81.81

Religion
Religion in North 24 Parganas district (2011)[29]
Hinduism
 
 73.46%
Islam
 
 25.82%
Other or not stated
 
 0.72%
Religion in present-day North 24 Parganas district[lower-alpha 1]
Religion Population (1941)[30]: 80–81  Percentage (1941) Population (2011)[29] Percentage (2011)
Hinduism 927,418 57.09% 7,352,769 73.46%
Islam 648,920 39.95% 2,584,684 25.82%
Tribal religion 41,105 2.53% 2,930 0.03%
Others [lower-alpha 2] 6,994 0.43% 69,398 0.69%
Total Population 1,624,437 100% 10,009,781 100%
Population by religion in CD blocks
CD Block Hindu Muslim Other
Bagdah 82.00% 17.42% 0.58%
Bongaon 78.17% 20.83% 1.00%
Gaighata 93.27% 6.42% 0.31%
Swarupnagar 52.17% 47.58% 0.25%
Habra I 73.51% 25.81% 0.68%
Habra II 50.85% 48.76% 0.39%
Amdanga 41.30% 58.48% 0.22%
Barrackpur I 84.38% 14.46% 1.15%
Barrackpur II 77.71% 21.45% 0.84%
Barasat I 55.43% 44.08% 0.49%
Barasat II 25.93% 73.81% 0.26%
Deganga 28.79% 70.92% 0.29%
Baduria 34.35% 65.48% 0.17%
Basirhat I 31.25% 68.54% 0.22%
Basirhat II 29.67% 70.10% 0.23%
Haroa 38.75% 61.12% 0.12%
Rajarhat 59.41% 39.89% 0.69%
Minakhan 47.76% 51.60% 0.63%
Sandeshkhali I 69.19% 30.42% 0.39%
Sandeshkhali II 77.17% 22.27% 0.55%
Hasnabad 43.35% 56.51% 0.14%
Hingalganj 87.97% 11.82% 0.21%
Area not under any Sub-district 89.17% 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

Languages of North 24 Parganas district (2011)[31]

  Bengali (88.91%)
  Hindi (7.69%)
  Urdu (2.28%)
  Others (1.12%)

According to the 2011 census, 88.91% of the population spoke Bengali, 7.69% Hindi and 2.28% Urdu as their first language.[31]

Flora and fauna

The district is also home to the Bibhutibhushan Wildlife Sanctuary, which was established in 1985 and has an area of 0.6 km2 (0.2 sq mi).[32]

Health facilities
  • District Hospitals: 10 with 2500 beds
  • Sub Divisional Hospitals: 14 with 1870 beds
  • State General Hospitals: 18 with 1870 beds
  • ESI Hospital: 01 with 200 beds
  • Rural Hospitals: 07 with 228 beds
  • Block Primary Health Centers: 15

Notable people

Citations
  1. "Provisional Population Totals Paper 1 of 2011 : West Bengal". Census of India. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  2. "West Bengal Human Development Report 2004" (PDF).
  3. "District Census Handbook: North 24 Parganas" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  4. McCabe, Joseph (1920) "Holwell, John Zephaniah", A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists, Watts & Co., London, pp. 356–357, p. 357, OCLC 262462698.
  5. "West Bengal to get 7 new districts, announces CM Mamata Banerjee". LiveMint. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  6. Chakraborti, Suman. "Soon, smart composting units at Sector V offices | Kolkata News". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. "Directory of District, Sub division, Panchayat Samiti/ Block and Gram Panchayats in West Bengal, March 2008". West Bengal. National Informatics Centre, India. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  8. "District at a glance". Official website of the North 24 Parganas district. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  9. "Population, Decadal Growth Rate, Density and General Sex Ratio by Residence and Sex, West Bengal/ District/ Sub District, 1991 and 2001". West Bengal. Directorate of census operations. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  10. "Page on Barrackpore subdivision". Official website of North 24 Parganas district. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  11. "Change of guard". www.telegraphindia.com.
  12. "bmcwbgov.in". Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  13. "Press Note, Delimitation Commission" (PDF). Assembly Constituencies in West Bengal. Delimitation Commission. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  14. "list of MPs & MLAs of N 24 PGS". Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  15. "Assembly under Bangaon Lok Sabha". www.indiastatelections.com.
  16. "ISI Kolkata Campus". Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  17. "Narula Institute of Technology". NIT. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  18. "Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Mahavidyalaya | NAAC Accredited College". Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Mahavidyalaya.
  19. "Bagdah High School - Bagdah, North 24 Parganas - Reviews, Fee Structure, Admission Form, Address, Contact, Rating - Directory".
  20. "Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Baranagar Mission". Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  21. "Brief history of Baranagar Math". Tamakrishna Mission, Baranagar. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  22. "Services End on Kolkata's Circular Railway to Facilitate Metro's Construction". 13 October 2016.
  23. Gupta, Jayanta (21 November 2012). "March 2013 date for Noapara Metro". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  24. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901. censusindia.gov.in.
  25. Yeshwantrao, Nitin (1 April 2011). "Population explosion across Thane district worries officials". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  26. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Bolivia 10,118,683 July 2011 est.
  27. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 30 September 2011. Michigan 9,883,640
  28. "District wise Literacy rate in West Bengal 2001–2011 census". www.updateox.com. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  29. "Table C-01 Population by Religion: West Bengal". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  30. "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI BENGAL PROVINCE" (PDF). Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  31. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: West Bengal". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  32. Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment. "Protected areas: West Bengal". Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  1. Barrackpore, Barasat and Basirhat subdivisions, along with Bongaon and Gaighata thanas of Bongaon subdivision in Jessore district.
  2. Including Jainism, Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Ad-Dharmis, or not stated
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