Sandeshkhali I (community development block)

Sandeshkhali I
সন্দেশখালি I সমষ্টি উন্নয়ন ব্লক
Community development block
Sandeshkhali I

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 181.20 km2 (69.96 sq mi)
Population (2001)
 • Total 140,446
 • Density 780/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Lok Sabha constituency Basirhat
Vidhan Sabha constituency Sandeshkhali
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 I (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 this block. Headquarters of this block is at Najata Hatkhali.[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 Dalma and Besti rivers flow through the area.

Sandeshkhali I community development block has an area of 181.20 km2.[3]

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Sandeshkhali I block/ panchayat samiti are: Bayermari I, Kalinagar, Sarberia Agarhati, Bayermari II, Nazat I, Sehera Radhanagar, Hatgachhi and Nazat II.[4]

Daud Pur is one of the most valuable and updated places in Sandeshkhali. The river Bali passes from here. Gram Panchayat Office, Bank, H.S School all are here. Daud pur H.L Sikshanikatan is a H.S School and a reputed school in this area. Nowadays solar electricityand good roads available. This village is a boundary of 24pgs(n) & 24pgs(s).

Demographics

As per 2001 census, Sandeshkhali I block has a total population of 140,446 out of which 71,912 were males and 68,534 were females. Sandeshkhali I block registered a population growth of 16.51 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.[5]

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 within the year 2012. The scheme covers Gosaba, Sagar, Pathar Pratima, Namkhana, Kultali, Hingalganj and Sandeshkhali.[6]

Micro-credit

Micro credit 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 12000 members spread over 24 villages (mouza). SHG members of Sandeshkhali raised Rs.40,000/-loan from Bank of Baroda to start a poultry farm.[7](31 March 2008, BDO, SDK-II)

Health

Although in North 24 Parganas district groundwater is affected by arsenic contamination, tubewells in Sandeshkhali II block are arsenic safe according to Indian standard (50 µg/L) and in Sandeshkhali I block only 0.6% tubewells exceed 50 µg/L.(study conducted by JYDC an NGO). A lab was set up by JYDC in collaboration with UNICEF and govt. of West Bengal to monitor drinking water in the area. The probable reason may be, in Sandeshkhali, most of the tubewells are deep tubewells. Shallow tubewells are saline, so people do not construct shallow tubewells.[8] A study of iodine deficiency disorder amongst children found that prevalence of goitre amongst school children was very high at 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.[9]

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 Twenty Four Parganas District (11). Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
  4. ↑ From Basirhat subdivision page.
  5. ↑ "Provisional Population Totals, West Bengal. Table 4". Census of India 2001. Census Commission of India. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  6. ↑ "Electrification of Sundarbans through non-conventional energy sources". WBREDA. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  7. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ravik. "Micro credit tool for women’s empowerment". Micr credit for poultry farming. babaloknath.org. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "Sundarbans gratitude to Lapierre". The Telegraph, 30 November 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-22.