Minakhan (community development block)

Minakhan
মিনাখান সমষ্টি উন্নয়ন ব্লক
Community development block
Minakhan

Location in West Bengal, India

Coordinates: 22°30′04″N 88°43′08″E / 22.501°N 88.719°E / 22.501; 88.719Coordinates: 22°30′04″N 88°43′08″E / 22.501°N 88.719°E / 22.501; 88.719
Country  India
State West Bengal
District North 24 Parganas
Area
 • Total 157.12 km2 (60.66 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 199,084
 • Density 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Literacy (2011)
 • Total literates 122,283 (71.33%)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 743441 (Minakhan)
Telephone/STD code 03217
Vehicle registration WB-23, WB-24, WB-25, WB-26
Lok Sabha constituency Basirhat
Vidhan Sabha constituency Minakhan
Website north24parganas.nic.in

Minakhan is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Minakhan and Haroa police stations serve this block. Headquarters of this block is at Minakhan. It is located 40 km from Barasat, the district headquarters.

Geography

Location

Minakhan is located at 22°30′04″N 88°43′08″E / 22.501°N 88.719°E / 22.501; 88.719.

Minakhan CD Block is bounded by Basirhat I CD Block in the north, Hasnabad and Sandeshkhali I CD Blocks in the east, Bhangar I and Bhangar II CD Blocks in South 24 Parganas district in the south and west, and Haroa CD Block in the west.[1][2]

Area

Minakhan CD Block has an area of 157.12 km2.[3]

Physical features

North 24 Parganas district is part of the Gangetic delta, lying east of the Hooghly River. The country is flat. It is a little raised above flood level and the highest ground borders the river channels. The rivers in the district were formerly distributaries of the Ganges but their mouths have long been filled up and blocked. The area is described as a sort of a drowned land broken by swamps. Land in the north-east of the district is higher than that of the rest of the district. The sturdy peasants raise crops of rice, jute and sugarcane from the alluvial soil. There are clumps of palm and fruit trees in which village homesteads nestle. Industrial activity is concentrated in the narrow strip of land along the Hooghly River. The south-eastern part of the district gradually merges into the Sunderbans.[4] Parts of the metropolitan city of Kolkata extend over southern part of the district.

Villages in Minakhan and Haroa CD Blocks are located in the Piyali-Bidyadhari plain.[5]

Sundarbans

The Sundarbans is a flat lowland susceptible to the tidal waves along the 260 km shoreline of the Bay of Bengal. The total expanse of Sundarbans is about 2.05 million hectares (8,000 square miles). Of this, only 0.42 million hectares (1,629 square miles or 10,43,000 acres) are under the reserve forests including about 0.19 million hectares covered by creeks and channels. The area is prone to natural calamities such as cyclones, thunderstorms with occasional hail and floods. There are more than 63,400 km of embankments but the floods caused by high tidal bores, often wash away much of the embankments, already weakened and broken by earlier cyclonic storms.[5]

In May 2009, the district was hit by high speed cyclone named Aila and subsequent rainfall which continued for two days. This created a disaster in 20 out of 22 blocks of the district. 10 out of 27 municipalities of the district were also severely affected.[5]

Six CD Blocks of North 24 Parganas are included in the Sundabans area – Hingalganj, Hasnabad, Sandeskhali I and II, Minakhan and Haora.[5]

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Minakhan block/ panchayat samiti are: Atpukur, Chaital, Dhuturdaha, Minakhan, Bamanpukur, Champali, Kumarjole and Mohanpur.[6]

Demographics

As per 2011 Census of India Minakhan CD Block had a total population of 199,084, of which 191,973 were rural and 7,111 were urban. There were 101,827 (51%) males and 97,257 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 27,645. Scheduled Castes numbered 60,578 and Scheduled Tribes numbered 18,564.[7]

As per 2001 census, Minakhan block has a total population of 168,233 out of which 86,772 were males and 81,461 were females. Minakhan block registered a population growth of 22.48 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.[8]

Census towns and large villages

There are two census towns in Minakhan CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Minakhan (3,474) and Balihati (3,637).[7]

Large villages in Mina Khan CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Uchildaha (6,986), Atpukur (7,717), Mohanpur (12,459), Baukhola (4,690), Debitala (5,744), Bargan Gopalpur (4,065), Kumarjol (7,967), Jaygram (4,962), Taplakushangra (4,738), Bamanpukuria (6,421) and Chaital (11,927).[7]

Literacy

As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Minakhan CD Block was 122,283 (71.33% of the population over 6 years) out of which 67,728 (55%) were males and 54,455 (45%) were females.[7]

As per 2011 census, literacy in North 24 Parganas district was 84.06 (including urban areas outside the CD Blocks).[9] Literacy in West Bengal was 77.08% in 2011.[10] Literacy in India in 2011 was 74.04%.[10]

Language

Bengali is the local language in these areas.[1]

Human Development Report

According to Census 2001, 54% of the population of North 24 Parganas district live in the urban areas. The district has 1,571 inhabited villages spread over 22 community development blocks. In the urban area there are 27 municipalities, 20 census towns, 7 urban outgrowths and one town under Cantonment Board. The North 24 Parganas district Human Development Report opines that in spite of agricultural productivity in North 24 Parganas district being rather impressive 81.84% of rural population suffer from shortage of food. The number of families living below the poverty line vary widely from block to block. Even in some municipal areas, such as Baduria, Gobardanga, Taki, Basirhat, Bangaon and Habra surveys have revealed large percentage of people living in poverty. Several poverty alleviation schemes are under implementation mostly at the block level. North 24 Parganas district with a population density of 2,192 persons per square km, is third densest in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Howrah. The high density of population in the district is largely because of large scale migration of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan, particularly in the period 1947 to 1955. In 2004, life expectancy at birth of a female was 71 years and that of a male was 66 years. With a literacy rate of 68.74% in 2001, the district was second only to Kolkata in the state in literacy. There are 6,139 habitations in the rural areas of North 24 Parganas. Out of these 2,331 habitations have primary schools within the villages and another 3,334 habitations have primary schools within 1 km. There are 474 habitations with primary schools beyond 1 km from the village. There were 258 high schools in the rural areas of the district.[11]

Minakhan CD Block had a population density of 1,064 persons per km2. It was ranked 16 amongst the 22 CD Blocks for density of population in 2001. It had a literacy rate of 58.65%, ranking of 21. Male literacy rate was 69.25% and female literacy rate was 47.23%. It was one of the three CD Blocks in which more than half the women were illiterate in 2001. In Minakhan the female literacy rate has come up from 26.45% in 1991. Percentage distribution of main workers in Minakhan CD Block was cultivators 21.21, agricultural labourer 34.76, household industry worker 1.92 and other workers 42.11. 38.42% of households in this CD Block lived below poverty line.[11]

In this CD Block 23 villages (31.08%) had secondary schools but for 89.19% villages a college is more than 5 km away. Minakhan had 5 high schools with 3,470 students and 126 teachers. It had 7 higher secondary schools with 6,546 students and 149 teachers.[11]

In Minakhan, one of the six CD Blocks in the Sundarban area, 27.03% of the villages had electricity for domestic use, 40.54% villages had paved approach roads, 70.27% villages had primary schools, 4.05% villages had maternity and child welfare centres, and 98.65% villages had drinking water. The tube well is the source of drinking water in 1,244 out of 1,572 villages in the district. In Minakhan CD Block, 73 villages had tube wells for drinking water. Minakhan CD Block had 59.9 km surfaced roads and 10 km unsurfaced roads.[11]

North 24 Parganas is one of the leading districts in the formation and development of self-help groups. In Minakhan there were 501 groups. The major activities done by these groups were fishing, goat rearing and tailoring. Minakhan CD Block had 3 health centres and 29 sub-centres.[11]

Healthcare

Minakhan block is one of the areas where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Minakhan Block". onefivenine. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "North 24 Parganas District". Map Gallery – CD Blocks. North 24 Parganas district administration. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Census of India 2001, Provisional Population Totals, West Bengal, Table - 4". North Twenty Four Parganas District (11). Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
  4. ↑ LSS O’Malley. "Bengal District Gazzetteers: 24 Parganas". p 1-4. Google Books. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "District Human Development Report: North 24 Parganas" (PDF). p 250. Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal, 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  6. ↑ From Basirhat subdivision page.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "C.D. Block Wise Primary Census Abstract Data(PCA)". West Bengal – District-wise CD Blocks. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Provisional Population Totals, West Bengal. Table 4". Census of India 2001. Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  9. ↑ "District Census 2011". Population Census 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Provisional population tables and annexures" (PDF). Census 2011:Table 2(3) Literates and Literacy rates by sex. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "District Human Development Report: North 24 Parganas" (PDF). Intro Pp 3, 6, 8, 22, 38, 202; Block specific Pp 20, 22, 27, 28, 31, 86, 89, 123, 145, 151, 189. Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal, 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Groundwater Arsenic contamination in West Bengal-India (20 years study )". Groundwater arsenic contamination status of North 24-Parganas district, one of the nine arsenic affected districts of West Bengal-India. SOES. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
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