| Budge Budge | |||
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| Coordinates | |||
| Country | India | ||
| State | West Bengal | ||
| District(s) | South 24 Parganas | ||
| Parliamentary constituency | Diamond Harbour | ||
| Assembly constituency | Budge Budge | ||
| Population | 75,465 (2001[update]) | ||
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) | ||
| Area |
• 8 metres (26 ft) |
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| Website | s24pgs.gov.in | ||
Budge Budge (Bengali: বজ বজ Bôj Bôj) is a town and a municipality in South 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.[1]
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Swami Vivekananda landed at Budge Budge ferry ghat when he returned from his Chicago visit. The anniversary is still celebrated today with great zeal.
A curious feature of this small and old town is the large number of Sikhs who live here. Budge Budge was the site where the ship Komagata Maru was allowed to land following its return from Vancouver. The ship was chartered by a group of Sikhs to challenge the exclusion laws enacted by Canada to restrict Indian immigration.
Budge Budge municipality is more than a century old establishment.
Historically the oldest people of this place were the 'Haldars' who came here to guard a fort near the bank of the River Ganges. A British writer who had come with Clive around 1740-50 chronicled this event. Maniklal was the main person at the fort and his soldiers lost to Clive's troops. This may have been the start of the series of Indian defeats to the expanding British colonial forces in the 18th century.
Budge Budge is located in the south-western suburbs of Calcutta, on the eastern bank of the River Ganges. Over the past few years Budge Budge has developed considerably in terms of lifestyle and infrastructure. With the ongoing project of construction of 4-lane road the economic progress is expected to accelerate.
Budge Budge owes much of its importance to the oil storage and jute mills. Being close to Calcutta and on the shores of Hooghly river makes it a strategic location for oil storage and is the biggest oil storage for the metropolis Calcutta with big PSUs like Petroleum Wharves Budge Budge (PWBB)under Kolkata Port trust. BPCL, HPCL, IOC having large units there. Jute mills were the biggest employers in the area till they started falling sick. Prominent among them are New Central Jute Mill and Budge Budge Jute Mills. At their height before 1971 these jute mills used to employ thousands of workers (New Central Jute Mills has been said to have employed as many as twenty thousand people) but after the partition of India and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh, supply of raw materials for these jute mills decreased. This, along with failure of trade unions lead to the closing of most of these jute mills.
The Budge Budge thermal power plant set up by CESC in Achipur (named after a Chinese called Achhu saheb by the locals who had established a sugar cane unit there) is a major source of electricity for Kolkata and its suburbs.
The Sealdah-Budge Budge line was constructed in 1890.[2] It is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system.
Ferry service from Bouria (Howrah District) to Budge Budge.
As of 2001[update] India census,[3] Budge Budge had a population of 75,465. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Budge Budge has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 75% and female literacy of 64%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The majority of the population comprises Bengali Hindus belonging to Mahishya caste. Sunni Muslims live in specific areas. Christian families live in Hindu majority localities.
Apart from the century old schools (Budge Budge Uchcha Balika Vidyalaya,P.K. High School,Kalipur High School, Sarengabad High School,Jagweshwari Paathshaala,Subhas Girl High School) several English medium schools (including the St Paul's day school, St Thomas, St. Stephenson, Carmel) have sprouted up but the quality of education is not of adequate standard and consequently, aspiring students are forced to look torwards Kolkata for better opportunities. The oldest school of this locality is Sarengabad High School. The school was established in 1856, the same year when Calcutta University was founded. Noted philanthropist of the locality late Shri Anath Bandhu Mitra was instrumental for converting the small village school to a large institution. Shri Mitra was also founder of Jagweshwari Paathshaala High School, Arya Rishikul School, Bandhab Pathagar and Baikuntha Ashram. His able grandson Dr.Ramesh Chandra Basu carried the legacy and during his tenure as the secretary, Sarangabad High School had a through transformation to its present form. There is a college named Budge Budge College.
High levels of arsenic in ground water was found in 12 blocks of the district. Water samples collected from tubewells in the affected places contained arsenic above the normal level (10 microgram a litre as specified by the World Health Organisation). The affected blocks are Baruipur, Bhangar I, Bhangar II, Bishnupur I, Bishnupur II, Basanti, Budge Budge, Canning I, Canning II, Sonarpur, Mograhat II and Joynagar. [4]
Budge Budge has a reduplicated place name similar to many such places in Australia.
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