Bardhaman district

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Bardhaman district
বর্ধমান জেলা

Location of Bardhaman district in West Bengal
State West Bengal, India
Administrative division Burdwan
Headquarters Bardhaman
Area 7,024 km2 (2,712 sq mi)
Population 77,23,663 (2011)
Population density 1,100 /km2 (2,800 /sq mi)
Urban population 36.94 per cent
Literacy 77.15 per cent[1]
Sex ratio 922
Lok Sabha Constituencies Asansol, Bardhaman-Durgapur, Bardhaman Purba (SC), Bolpur (SC) (partly), Bishnupur (SC) (with one assembly segment in the district)
Assembly Seats Pandabeswar, Raniganj, Jamuria, Asansol Uttar, Asansol Dakshin, Kulti, Barabani, Bardhaman Uttar (SC), Bardhaman Dakshin, Monteswar, Bhatar, Galsi (SC), Durgapur Purba, Durgapur Paschim, Raina (SC), Jamalpur (SC), Kalna (SC), Memari, Purbasthali Uttar, Purbasthali Dakshin, Katwa, Ketugram, Mangalkot, Ausgram (SC), Khandaghosh (SC)
Major highways NH 2, Grand Trunk Road, Panagarh–Morgram Highway, NH 60
Average annual precipitation 1442 mm
Official website

Bardhaman district (Bengali: বর্ধমান জেলা bôrdhoman) (also spelled as Burdwan or Burdhman) is a district in West Bengal. The headquarter of the district is Bardhaman, though it houses other important industrial towns like Durgapur and Asansol. In Medieval history, this area was known as Sharifabad.

It is the seventh most populous district in India (out of 640).[2]

Contents

Etymology

The name of Bardhaman city, which lends its name to the district, comes from the 24th Jain monk Tirthankar Mahavir Bardhaman. Probably Mahavir was from a village name Ajahapur situated close to the NH2, near Memari Railway Station.

History

Bardhaman was important during Medieval age and while India was under British rule.

Prehistory

This fertile land was important even during the Gupta and Sena rule.

Medieval age

During the Mughal age, from the thirteenth century, the city of Bardhaman was known as Sharifabad. It was an important administrative center. When Sufi pir Baharam had to leave Delhi because of the plots of Abul Fazal and Faizi, he came to Sharifabad. His tomb is visited by both Muslims and Hindus.

Modern era

Post independence, Bardhaman became an important economic hub in West Bengal because of its location, and also due to the natural resources available in the region (esp Coal.)

Geography

Bardhaman District has an area of 7,024 km², and a population of 6,895,514 (2001 census). It is bounded on the north by Birbhum and Murshidabad districts, on the east by Nadia District, on the southeast by Hooghly District, on the southwest by Bankura and Purulia districts, and on the northwest by Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. The district has six sub-divisions, Asansol, Sadar (North), Sadar (South), Durgapur, Kalna, and Katwa. It was amongst the first districts to have a 100% literacy rate.

Bardhaman is the most advanced district in West Bengal both industrially and agriculturally. The eastern part is enriched by the alluvial soil of Bhagirathi River (minor stream of river Ganges), and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in West Bengal. The western part of the district, chiefly Asansol, is rich in coal and other mineral resources. This part is highly industrialised and contains various factories based on iron and steel processing, as well as many cement factories. Durgapur, Burnpur, and Kulti are in the western part of the district. It also contains power plants at Durgapur and Dishergarh.

Subdivisions

Administrative divisions

The district comprises six subdivisions: Asansol, Durgapur, Kalna, Katwa, Bardhaman Sadar North and Bardhaman Sadar South. Asansol subdivision consists of Asansol municipal corporation, three municipalities (Raniganj, Jamuria and Kulti) and four community development blocs: Barabani, Jamuria, Raniganj and Salanpur. Durgapur subdivision consists of Durgapur municipal corporation and five community development blocs: Durgapur—Faridpur, Galsi–I, Kanksa, Andal and Pandabeswar. Kalna subdivision consists of Kalna municipality and five community development blocks: Kalna–I, Kalna–II, Manteswar, Purbasthali–I and Purbasthali–II. Katwa subdivision consists of two municipalities (Katwa and Dainhat) and five community development blocks: Katwa–I, Katwa–II, Ketugram–I, Ketugram–II and Mongolkote. Bardhaman Sadar North consists of two municipalities (Bardhaman and Guskara) and six community development blocks: Ausgram — I, Ausgram–II, Bhatar, Burdwan–I, Burdwan–II and Galsi–II. Bardhaman Sadar South subdivision consists of Memari municipality and six community development blocks: Khandaghosh, Jamalpur, Memari–I, Memari –II, Raina–I and Raina–II.[3]

Bardhaman is the district headquarters. There are 32 police stations, 31 development blocks, 2 municipal corporations, 9 municipalities, 277 gram panchayats and 2438 villages in this district.[3][4]

Other than municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocs which in turn are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 66 urban units: 2 municipal corporations, 9 municipalities and 55 census towns.[4][5] Asansol, Kulti, Bhanowara, Jamuria, Jemari, Raniganj, Putsuri, Amkula, Murgathaul, Raghunathchak and Ballavpur together forms Asansol urban agglomeration (UA). Katwa and Panuhat forms Katwa UA, whereas Kalna and Uttar Goara forms the Kalna UA.

Asansol subdivision

Durgapur subdivision

Kalna subdivision

Katwa subdivision

Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision

Bardhaman Sadar South subdivision

Assembly constituencies

The district is divided into 26 assembly constituencies:[6]

  1. Kulti (assembly constituency no. 257),
  2. Barabani (assembly constituency no. 258),
  3. Hirapur (assembly constituency no. 259),
  4. Asansol (assembly constituency no. 260),
  5. Raniganj (assembly constituency no. 261),
  6. Jamuria (assembly constituency no. 262),
  7. Ukhra (SC) (assembly constituency no. 263),
  8. Durgapur — I (assembly constituency no. 264),
  9. Durgapur — II (assembly constituency no. 265),
  10. Kanksa (SC) (assembly constituency no. 266),
  11. Ausgram (SC) (assembly constituency no. 267),
  12. Bhatar (assembly constituency no. 268),
  13. Galsi (assembly constituency no. 269),
  14. Bardhaman North (assembly constituency no. 270),
  15. Bardhaman South (assembly constituency no. 271),
  16. Khandaghosh (SC) (assembly constituency no. 272),
  17. Raina (assembly constituency no. 273),
  18. Jamalpur (SC) (assembly constituency no. 274),
  19. Memari (assembly constituency no. 275),
  20. Kalna (assembly constituency no. 276),
  21. Nadanghat (assembly constituency no. 277),
  22. Manteswar (assembly constituency no. 278),
  23. Purbasthali (assembly constituency no. 279),
  24. Katwa (assembly constituency no. 280),
  25. Mangalkot (assembly constituency no. 281) and
  26. Ketugram (SC) (assembly constituency no. 282).

Ukhra, Kanksa, Ausgram, Khandaghosh, Jamalpur and Ketugram constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.

Kulti, Barabani, Hirapur, Asansol, Raniganj, Jamuria and Ukhra constituencies are part of Asansol (Lok Sabha constituency).

Durgapur — I, Durgapur — II, Kanska and Galsi are assembly segments of Durgapur (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contains three assembly segments from Bankura district.

Bhatar, Bardhaman North, Bardhaman South, Khandaghosh, Raina, Jamalpur and Memari are assembly segments of Burdwan (Lok Sabha constituency).

Kalna, Nadanghat, Manteswar, Purbasthali and Katwa are assembly segments of Katwa (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contains two assembly constituencies from Hooghly district.

Ausgram and Mangalkot are part of Bolpur (Lok Sabha constituency), which has five other assembly segments from Birbhum district.

Ketugram constituency is part of Berhampore (Lok Sabha constituency), which contains six other assembly segments from Murshidabad district.

Impact of delimitation of constituencies

As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district will be divided into 25 assembly constituencies:[7]

  1. Khandaghosh (SC) (assembly constituency no. 259),
  2. Bardhaman Dakshin (assembly constituency no. 260),
  3. Raina (SC) (assembly constituency no. 261),
  4. Jamalpur (SC) (assembly constituency no. 262),
  5. Manteswar (assembly constituency no. 263),
  6. Kalna (SC) (assembly constituency no. 264),
  7. Memari (Vidhan Sabha constituency) (assembly constituency no. 265),
  8. Bardhaman Uttar (SC) (assembly constituency no. 266),
  9. Bhatar (assembly constituency no. 267),
  10. Purbasthali Dakshin (assembly constituency no. 268),
  11. Purbasthali Uttar (assembly constituency no. 269),
  12. Katwa (assembly constituency no. 270),
  13. Ketugram (assembly constituency no. 271),
  14. Mangalkot (assembly constituency no. 272),
  15. Ausgram (SC) (assembly constituency no. 273),
  16. Galsi (SC) (assembly constituency no. 274),
  17. Pandaveswar (Vidhan Sabha constituency) (assembly constituency no. 275),
  18. Durgapur Purba (assembly constituency no. 276),
  19. Durgapur Paschim (assembly constituency no. 277),
  20. Raniganj (Vidhan Sabha constituency) (assembly constituency no. 278),
  21. Jamuria (assembly constituency no. 279),
  22. Asansol Dakshin (Vidhan Sabha constituency) (assembly constituency no. 280),
  23. Asansol Uttar (Vidhan Sabha constituency) (assembly constituency no. 281),
  24. Kulti (assembly constituency no. 282) and
  25. Barabani (assembly constituency no. 283).

Khandaghosh, Raina, Jamalpur, Kalna, Bardhaman Uttar, Ausgram and Galsi constituencies will be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.

Khandaghosh constituency will be part of Bishnupur (Lok Sabha constituency), which will contain six other assembly segments from Bankura district.

Raina, Jamalpur, Kalna, Memari, Purbasthali Dakshin, Purbasthali Uttar and Katwa assembly constituencies will form the Bardhaman Purba (Lok Sabha constituency), which will be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.

Bardhaman Dakshin, Manteswar, Bardhaman Uttar, Bhatar, Galsi, Durgapur Purba and Durgapur Paschim will form the Bardhaman-Durgapur (Lok Sabha constituency).

Pandabeswar, Raniganj, Jamuria, Asansol Dakshin, Asansol Uttar, Kulti and Barabani constituencies will form the Asansol (Lok Sabha constituency).

Ketugram, Mangalkot and Ausgram will be part of Bolpur (Lok Sabha constituency), which will contain four other assembly segments from Birbhum district.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Bardhaman district has a population of 7,723,663,[2] roughly equal to the nation of Switzerland[8] or the US state of Virginia.[9] This gives it a ranking of 7th in India (out of a total of 640).[2] The district has a population density of 1,100 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,800 /sq mi) .[2] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.01 %.[2] Barddhaman has a sex ratio of 943 females for every 1000 males,[2] and a literacy rate of 77.15 %.[2]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ "District-specific Literates and Literacy Rates, 2001". Registrar General, India, Ministry of Home Affairs. http://www.educationforallinindia.com/page157.html. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. 
  3. ^ a b "Directory of District, Sub division, Panchayat Samiti/ Block and Gram Panchayats in West Bengal, March 2008". West Bengal. National Informatics Centre, India. 2008-03-19. http://wbdemo5.nic.in/writereaddata/Directoryof_District_Block_GPs(RevisedMarch-2008).doc. Retrieved 2008-12-06. 
  4. ^ a b "Administrative Units". Official website of Bardhaman district. http://bardhaman.gov.in/adminunit.html. Retrieved 2008-12-06. 
  5. ^ "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. http://www.wbcensus.gov.in/DataTables/02/Table4_9.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-06. 
  6. ^ "General election to the Legislative Assembly, 2001 – List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies". West Bengal. Election Commission of India. http://archive.eci.gov.in/se2001/background/S25/WB_ACPC.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-15. 
  7. ^ "Press Note, Delimitation Commission". Assembly Constituencies in West Bengal. Delimitation Commission. http://www.wbgov.com/e-gov/English/DELIMITATION.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-15. 
  8. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. "Switzerland 7,639,961 July 2011 est." 
  9. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php. Retrieved 2011-09-30. "Virginia 8,001,024" 

External links

Jamtara district, Jharkhand
Dhanbad district, Jharkhand		 Birbhum district Murshidabad district
Purulia district Nadia district
   Bardhaman district    
Bankura district Hooghly district
Burdwan division
Jalpaiguri division
Presidency division