Kalaigaon

Kalaigaon
কলাইগাঁও
Kālāigaon
Legislative Assembly Constituency

A view of the rice fields and tree plantations in Kalaigaon
Kalaigaon

Location in Assam, India

Coordinates: 26°34′29″N 91°58′32″E / 26.57459°N 91.97567°ECoordinates: 26°34′29″N 91°58′32″E / 26.57459°N 91.97567°E
Country  India
State Assam
District Udalguri
Government
 • Member Of Legislative Assembly Mukunda Rai Choudhury (AGP)
Area
 • Total 232 km2 (90 sq mi)
Elevation 37 m (121 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 110,862
 • Density 477/km2 (1,240/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Assamese
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 781 525
Telephone code 91 - (0) 3713 - XX XX XXX
Vehicle registration AS-13 (Mangaldai)
View of the Noa River near Kalaigaon
A beautiful view of Sunset in Kalaigaon

Kalaigaon (Assamese: কলাইগাঁও, Hindi: कलाईगाँव, Kālāigaon) is a small town and Legislative Assembly Constituency in north-eastern India. It is situated in the Udalguri district of Assam state. The average altitude is 37 meters. The climate is humid and congenial, while the relative humidity is around 82%. The annual rainfall is around 2,000 mm.

Etymology

The origin of name of this ancient place can be found in a local legend about a brahmin priest, named Kendukalai. According to the legend, he was supposedly able to cause the goddess Kamakhya Devi appear in her naked form in the temple where he worshiped, because of his devotion. The erstwhile Raja of Darrang district, coming to know of this, wished to see the goddess. Although the priest denied to do so at first, he had to bow to the king's wish from fear of death. He asked the king to hide near the temple and watch through a hole and began his worship. The goddess appeared and started dancing in the temple, but eventually saw the eyes of the King through the hole, coming to know of his treachery and in a fit of anger, decapitated the priest. The head of the deceased priest got thrown away by the force of the mortal blow and landed in a place 13 km north, which was later named as Muradeor. The name of Kendukalai later degraded to Kalaigaon. Even today, Kendukalai village exists 8 km west, towards Tangla, from present day Kalaigaon, on M.B. Road.

History

The earliest settlers were the various troops of the many kings of medieval Assam, mostly of Koch kingdom. After the British annexed Assam to the British Raj, the settlement came to the fore as a suitable place for administrating the nearby areas. The oldest government offices are the Police Station (established in 1882) at same place where it exists now, and the Post Office (established in 1886). Earlier the police station was responsible for a much larger area, from Mazbat in the east to Barnoi in the west. The police station limit is still vast with 120 villages.

Till the 1960s Kalaigaon was well occupied by human settlements along with large number of wild animals roaming in the open. In 1961, when Acharya Vinoba Bhabe visited Assam, Kalaigaon was also a prominent place in his tour, among others.He stayed for a few days in Kalaigaon Sevashram along with other national leaders like late Bimala Prasad Chaliha (former CM, Assam), late Mahendra Mohan Choudhury (former governor of Punjab and CM of Assam).

Veteran Assamese freedom fighter Late Pani Ram Das is a prominent personality & social worker from this town. He has also been recognised as the first journalist from the erstwhile undivided Darrang. He had been the correspondent of The Assam Tribune since 1938, reporting from Mangaldai.

Governance

The current Member of Legislative Assembly from Kalaigaon LAC is Mukunda Rai Choudhury from the Asom Gana Parishad party. Kalaigaon revenue circle is under a Sub-District Collector (SDC) who is responsible for collection of revenue from 103 villages within the circle. Out of the 103 villages, 51 fall under Silpota Mouza and 52 under Kalaigaon Mouza.

An army camp is also present in the town near the police station to help law and order under AFSPA(Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958).

Demographics

According to 2011 census records, the total population of Kalaigaon sub-division was 110862, of which, 56285 (50.77%) were males and 54577 (49.22%) were females. Some villages of Kalaigaon fall in Darrang district, and the population there was 24246 (12723 males and 12523 females).[1] The remaining majority of villages are in Udalguri district, and the population there was 85616 (43562 males and 42054 females).[2]

Economy

The economy of this place is heavily dependent on agriculture. Cultivation of rice is the primary agricultural activity, vegetables being a close second.

Roofed shelters of Sunday Market of Kalaigaon

However, over the last few years, consumerism has contributed to the steep rise in the consumer goods business. Due to heavy rice cultivation, many small indigenous rice mills came up in and around the town which supply rice to other parts of Assam; Guwahati being the largest consumer of its rice. The Kalaigaon rice brand has now set up its own identity in Assam. There are also a number of co-operative societies as well as banking institutes.[3]

This place also has two weekly market days, one on Sundays and another on Thursdays. A unique feature being that livestock trading takes place on Thursdays almost exclusively, which is very rare in these parts of the world. These markets attracts a large amount of people around the district every Thursday and Sunday, often making transportation very cumbersome in the town. There are also a few tea gardens in and around this town. Before 1950, most of them were owned by British tea companies.

Transportation

The town is well connected to the rest of Assam by the Mangaldai-Bhutiachang (MB Road/State Highway 4) which allows people to access the National Highway 52 at Mangaldai. Although this road was lying in various states of ruins during the better half of the last decade, it was repaired in 2010. Bus services are provide good connectivity to nearby towns and cities. Average time taken to travel to the town from nearest airport and capital city of Guwahati take about 2.5 to 3 hours. Shared taxi services, locally known as trekkers are also available.

Education and Health

Kalaigaon is an education destination for the youth in the nearby villages. There are many primary and secondary education institutes, as well as a college. Some of them are:

There is a State Dispensary in the town along with a number of pharmacies and private practitioners. A government run veterinary hospital also located nearby.

People and Culture

Rongjali Baisagu(Rongali Bihu) held at Kalaigaon

The population of this town is a mixture of various ethnic communities like the Bengali, Bamun, Bodo, Ganak, Kalita, Koch, Muslim, Rabha etc. A few Marowari and Christian families can also be found. In the recent years this town has seen a rapid increase in the population of illegal Bangladeshi and East Pakistani refugees. Although this place is generally peaceful, few cases of ethnic clashes are not unheard of. The population of this place is very culture and tradition sensitive. The population of the town organizes cultural rallies, meetings, exhibitions and other extravaganzas quite frequently. The yearly Raax festival of Western Assam, Bihu, Eid, Durga Puja etc. are held with gaiety.

Nearby Towns and Important Villages

East

West

North

South

Terrorism and Insurgency

Like other parts of Assam, there has been incidents of terrorism in Kalaigaon.[4] There have been instances when security agency and terrorists have come into direct conflict within this region. However, in the recent years, the frequency of such incidents have greatly declined.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Kalaigaon of Darrang District". censusindia.gov.in.
  2. ↑ "Kalaigaon of Udalguri District". censusindia.gov.in.
  3. ↑ "The Sentinel". sentinelassam.com. 20 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Terrorism in India's North-east: A Gathering Storm - Ved Prakash - Google Books". books.google.co.in.

External links