Alipurduar | |
— city — | |
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Coordinates | |
Country | India |
State | West Bengal |
District(s) | Jalpaiguri district |
Chairman | Dipto Chatterjee (municipality councilor) |
Parliamentary constituency | Alipurduars (ST) Manohar Tirkey |
Assembly constituency | Alipurduars Deboprasad Roy |
Population • Density |
127,342 (2011[update]) • 38 /km2 (98 /sq mi) |
Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
Area |
3,383 square kilometres (1,306 sq mi) • 93 metres (305 ft) |
Website | jalpaiguri.gov.in/ |
Alipurduar (Bengali: আলিপুরদুয়ার) is a sub-divisional municipal city of Jalpaiguri district, and is located at the eastern end of the district. Situated on the east bank of Kaljani River on the foothills of the Himalayas, the town is a gateway to Bhutan and North Eastern states of India. This town located in the Dooars (called the Queen of Dooars) region is known for its forest, wildlife, timber and scenic beauty, since the colonial period.
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The town is surrounded by deep forest and tea garden. While there are two rivers flowing across the town namely Kaljani and Nonai. There is a river called Dima flows on the west of the town. It's a tributary of Kaljani and meets with the later near Smashan Khola.
This place had been a very old trading centre. The region was connected with the famous trading route called Silk Route with Bhutan and Tibet. The remains of the traditional route are still visible in Santalabari, near Alipurduar.
Alipurduar derives its name from the late Col. Hedayat Ali Khan who did admirable service in the Bhutan war and was stationed here as first Extra-Assistant Commissioner. The suffix "duar" (means door or gateway) has been added to the original name Alipur to differentiate it from the more well known Alipore in Kolkata and also because it is located in the Duars region.
In the 2011 census, Alipurduar Urban Agglomeration had a population of 127,342, out of which 64,898 were males and 62,444 were females. The 0-6 years population was 10,545. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 89.16 per cent.[1]
As of 2001[update] India census,[2] Alipurduar had a population of 73,047. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Alipurduar has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Although Alipurduar town is not a popular tourist destination by itself, a number of interesting choices are available within a short distance. Dense forests and hills offering beautiful natural landscape surround the town.
The most important forest in Alipurduar is Buxa Tiger Reserve, which attained much fame all over India for its enormous natural resources in terms of rare flora and fauna. The forest has the status of a National Park and houses the maximum number of Bengal tigers in North Bengal. The Chilapata Forests provide an elephant corridor between the Buxa reserve and the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, another important eco-tourism destination.
The highest peak of Jalpaiguri, the Chota Sinchula, is in Alipurduar. Situated at an altitude of 1733m at about 12 km from Buxa the peak offers beautiful sights of the impermeable forest covers of Buxa hills and Bhutan valley.
Rajabhatkhawa, Jayanti, Bhutanghat, and Raimatang are some other major destinations in Alipurduar. Situated deep inside the forest, all of these places offer very good scope for wildlife tourism. Each place has forest rest-house accommodation for limited numbers of tourist.
Alipurduar does not deprive trek lovers. A day trek to Buxa hill through dense forest track reaches Buxa fort and further up to Rovers Point and then leads to Rupam Valley in Bhutan Hill. Besides these, Adma, Gatuka, Tashigaon, Ochhlum and Lavchakha in the Buxa hill gives different flavours of touring. Jayanti Mahakal trek is another popular route that leads to a stalactite cave near Bhutan border. This trek is very popular among the pilgrims who visit the cave to offer prayer to their deity, Lord Shiva.
Alipurduar is a divisional headquarter of North-East Frontier Railway. It serviced by two railway stations. A branch from Alipurduar Jn (Indian Railways code APDJ) connects the Dooars line (New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri-Alipurduar Jn-New Coochbihar) to the main line (New Jalpaiguri-Jalpaiguri Road-New Coochbihar-Guwahati). From Alipurduar Junction, one may either commence to New Coochbihar and then (to Bamanhat nearing to Indo-Bangladesh border) Guwahati or bypass New Coochbihar altogether. On the other hand, New Alipurduar (Code: NOQ) is situated on the New Coochbehar-New Bongaigaon-Guwahati section and connects directly to many parts of India. Alipurduar is further serviced by two satellite stations: Alipurduar Court (APDC) and Alipur Duar (APD). Both are on the New Coochbihar-APDJ stretch.
Alipurduar is a melting pot of many cultures. The tribal people like Rava, Mech, Santhal, Rajbanshi has a rich cultural heritage. They have their own form of art and music. Mud wall of their houses are beautifully painted.
There are many schools in Alipurduar and some of them are famous like Alipurduar High School, Jitpur Higher Secondary School, Mc William Higher Secondary School, Railway Higher Secondary School, Shayamaprasad Vidya Mandir (boys and girls), Little Flowers Eng. School, Stepping Stone Model School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Rabikanta High School, Newtown Girls' High School, Balika Siksha Mandir, Alipurduar Girls' High School, Gobinda High School. ArobindaNagar Girls High School, Alipurduar College and Vivekananda College which is affiliated under North Bengal University is in the town.
The long-standing demand for a women's college was actualized in 2007 with the establishment of Alipurduar Mahila Mahavidyalaya affiliated by the University of North Bengal. The heads of the institutions are:
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