Sandeshkhali II (community development block)

Sandeshkhali II
সন্দেশখালি-2 উন্নয়ন সমষ্টি
Community development block
Sandeshkhali II

Location in West Bengal, India

Coordinates: 22°22′N 88°54′E / 22.36°N 88.90°ECoordinates: 22°22′N 88°54′E / 22.36°N 88.90°E
Country  India
State West Bengal
District North 24-Parganas
Area
 • Total 197.27 km2 (76.17 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 160,976
 • Density 820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 743446
Lok Sabha constituency Basirhat
Vidhan Sabha constituency 123-Sandeshkhali, 126-Hingalganj
Website north24parganas.nic.in

The Hungry Tide
In the beginning…there was nothing but forests here. There were no people, no embankments, no fields. Just kada and bada, mud and mangrove. At high tide most of the land vanished under water. And everywhere you looked there were predators – tigers, crocodiles, sharks, leopards…This was a time when people were so desperate for the land that they were willing to sell themselves for a bigha or two.[1]

Sandeshkhali-II (community development block) is an administrative division in Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Sandeshkhali police station serves Sandeshkhali-I & Sandeshkhali-II blocks. Headquarters of this block is at Sandeshkhali.[2]

Geography

Sandeshkhali is located at 22°22′N 88°54′E / 22.36°N 88.90°E.

The area is full of creeks and swamps in the deltaic region of southern Bengal. The wide Dansa, Kalindi and Raimangal rivers flow through the area.

Sandeshkhali-II Community Development Block has an area of 197.27 km2.[3]

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Sandeshkhali-II Block/Panchayat Samiti are: Bermajur-I, Bermajur-II, Sandeshkhali, Jeliakhali, Durgamandop, Korakati, Monipur and Khulna

Hospitals

Hospitals of Sandeshkhali-II Block are: Sandeshkhali Rural Hospital, Korakati Primary Health Centre

Government offices

Offices of Sandeshkhali-II Block are: Sandedhkhali-II BDO Office, Sandeshkhali BLRO Office, Sandeshkhali ADA Office

Schools

Schools of Sandeshkhali-II Block are: Sandeshkhali Radharani High School (HS), Bhagabati Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Khulna P.C. Law Vidyalaya (HS), Sitalia High School (HS), Hatgachha K.C.A. High School (HS), Bouthakurani Uttam Chandra High School, Atapur Kenaram High School (HS), Doutpur H.L. Sikshaniketan (HS), D.D.T. Sahid Smriti Vidyapith,

Demographics

As per 2001 census, Sandeshkhali-II block has a total population of 136,247 out of which 70,114 were males and 66,133 were females. Sandeshkhali-II block registered a population growth of 14.59 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the district was 22.40 per cent.[3] Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.[4]

Economy

Power

The remote villages and hamlets situated in the area suffer from chronic shortage of energy due to non-availability of grid power. It is extremely difficult to extend high voltage transmission lines because of technical limitations in an area with inhospitable terrain and prohibitive cost. A scheme is being formulated to cover about 750,000 people in the difficult areas of Sundarbans with non-conventional energy power by 2012. The scheme covers Gosaba, Sagar, Pathar Pratima, Namkhana, Kultali, Hingalganj and Sandeshkhali.[5]

Microcredit

Microcredit is serving as an effective tool of economic emancipation of women, empowering them to fight against many social evils and the age-old atrocities in the villages. JYDC an NGO, in collaboration with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has established 1047 self-help groups with 12,000 members spread over 24 villages (mouza). Self-help group members of Sandeshkhali raised Rs.40,000/-loan from Bank of Baroda to start a poultry farm.[6](31 March 2008, BDO, SDK-II)

Health

Although in North 24 Parganas district groundwater is affected by arsenic contamination, tube wells in Sandeshkhali-II block are arsenic safe according to Indian standard (50 µg/L) and in Sandeshkhali-I block only 0.6% of tube wells exceed 50 µg/L.(study conducted by JYDC, an NGO). A lab was set up by JYDC in collaboration with UNICEF and the government of West Bengal to monitor drinking water in the area. The probable reason may be, in Sandeshkhali, most of the tube wells are deep. Shallow tub ewells are saline, so people do not construct shallow tube wells.[7] A study of iodine deficiency disorder amongst children found that prevalence of goitre amongst school children was very high at Sandeshkhali. There is a rural hospital and a primary health centre and many sub-health centre. The name of the rural hospital is Sandeshkhali Rural Hospital (Add-Khulna, Sandeshkhali), the name of the primary health centre is Korakati Primary Health Centre (Add-Korakati, Sandeshkhali). Four launches with doctors carrying medicines, sophisticated portable X-ray and echo-cardiograph machines, provided by the French author Dominique Lapierre move along the waterways of the Sundarbans to its furthest corners. Residents of such places as Sandeshkhali, Basanti, Gosaba and Kultali have felicitated him when he came in 2004.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Ghosh, Amitav, The Hungry Tide, p. 51, Harper Collins/India Today group
  2. ↑ "Contact Details of Block Development Officers". North 24 Parganas district. West Bengal Government. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Census of India 2001, Provisional Population Totals, West Bengal, Table - 4". North 24-Parganas District (11). Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
  4. ↑ "Provisional Population Totals, West Bengal. Table 4". Census of India 2001. Census Commission of India. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  5. ↑ "Electrification of Sundarbans through non-conventional energy sources". WBREDA. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  6. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ravik. "Micro credit tool for women’s empowerment". Micr credit for poultry farming. babaloknath.org. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  7. ↑ "Groundwater Arsenic contamination in West Bengal-India (19 years study )". Groundwater arsenic contamination status of North 24-Parganas district, one of the nine arsenic affected districts of West Bengal-India. SOES. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  8. ↑ "Sundarbans gratitude to Lapierre". The Telegraph, 30 November 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-22.