Sandeshkhali I

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°E / 22.36; 88.90Coordinates: 22°22′N 88°54′E / 22.36°N 88.90°E / 22.36; 88.90
Country  India
State West Bengal
District North 24 Parganas
Area
 • Total 181.20 km2 (69.96 sq mi)
Elevation 7 m (23 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 164,465
 • Density 910/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Literacy (2011)
 • Total literates 100,978 (71.08%)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 743439 (Hatgachha)
Telephone/STD code 03217
Vehicle registration WB-23, WB-24, WB-25, WB-26
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]

Amitav Ghosh

Sandeshkhali I 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. Sandeshkhali police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is at Najata Hatkhali. It is located 54 km from Barasat, the district headquarters.

Geography

Location

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

Sandeshkhali I CD Block is bounded by Minakhan and Hasnabad CD Blocks in the north, Hingalganj CD Block in the east, Sandeshkhali II CD Block in the south and Bhangar II and Bhangar I CD Blocks in South 24 Parganas district in the west.[2][3]

Area

Sandeshkhali I CD Block has an area of 181.20 km2.[4]

Physical features

The Sandeshkhali area is full of creeks and swamps in the deltaic region of southern Bengal. The wide Dalma and Besti rivers flow through the area.

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.[5] Parts of the metropolitan city of Kolkata extend over southern part of the district.

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.[6]

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.[6]

Six CD Blocks of North 24 Parganas are included in the Sundabans area – Hingalganj, Hasnabad, Sandeskhali I and II, Minakhan and Haora.[6]

Gram panchayats

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

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 2011 Census of India Sandeshkhali I CD Block had a total population of 164,465, all of which were rural. There were 83,925 (51%) males and 80,540 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 22,394. Scheduled Castes numbered 50,812 and Scheduled Tribes numbered 42,674.[7]

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.[4] Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.[8]

Large villages

Large villages in Sandeshkhali I CD Block were (2011 census figures in brackets): Matbari (6,748), Khassankdaha (5,890), Chunchura (6,267), Laukhali Patharghata (9,180), Agarhati (6,889), Fakirtakia (10,361), Rajbari (5,964), Natkora (5,081), Kanmari (5,898), Khariat Abad (4,819), Baunia Abad (10,028), Nayazat (4,732), Bayar Mari Abad (11,030), Dakshin Akhratala (11,376), Ghoshpur (6,606), Kalinagar (8,769), Chhota Sehara (4,742) and Nityabaria (4,759).[7]

Literacy

As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Sandeshkhali I CD Block was 100,978 (71.08% of the population over 6 years) out of which 56,501 (56%) were males and 44,477 (44%) 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.[2]

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]

Sandeshkhali I CD Block had a population density of 771 persons per km2. It was ranked 20 amongst the 22 CD Blocks for density of population in 2001. It had a literacy rate of 58.45%, ranking of 22. Male literacy rate was 70.10% and female literacy rate was 46.15%. It was one of the three CD Blocks in which more than half the women were illiterate in 2001. Percentage distribution of main workers in Sandeshkhali CD Block was cultivators 18.64, agricultural labourer 34.74, household industry worker 2.22 and other workers 44.41 (non-agricultural, non-household). 58.29% of households in this CD Block lived below poverty line.[11]

In Sandeshkhali I CD Block 71 villages had primary school in the village, 38 villages had primary school within 1 km and 56 villages had primary schools more than 1 km away, 16 villages had upper primary schools in the village, 85 villages had upper primary schools within 1 km and 64 villages more than 1 km away.

In the Sandeshkhali I CD Block none of the villages had secondary schools and for 93.33% villages a college was more than 5 km away. Sandeshkhali I had 5 high schools with 3,501 students and 180 teachers. It had 6 higher secondary schools with 5,698 students and 192 teachers.[11]

In Sandeshkhali I, one of the six CD Blocks in the Sundarban area, 43.33% of the villages had electricity for domestic use, 63.33% villages had paved approach roads, none of the villages had maternity and child welfare centres, and 100% 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 Sandeshkhali I CD Block, 27 villages had tube wells for drinking water, 2 villages had tap water and one village used tank water. Sandeshkhali I CD Block had 207 km surfaced roads and 68 km unsurfaced roads.[11]

North 24 Parganas is one of the leading districts in the formation and development of self-help groups. In Sandeshkhali I there were 556 groups. The major activities done by these groups were fishery and prawn culture, animal husbandry and poultry. Sandeshkhali CD Block had 3 health centres and 35 sub-centres.[11]

Crime

Sandeshkhali and its surrounding areas are known for “notorious activities and incidents of common people being attacked and robbed by pirates frequently”. Some localities close to Sundarbans have been found vulnerable to women trafficking. More than 100 women from this region get trafficked to red-light areas in Mumbai and Pune each year.[12] Over the period 2002 – 2007, Sandeshkhali has reported hundreds of missing boys and girls. Most affected families have not registered cases, as they feel the police will not be of much help. Many keep on hoping that their children will return someday.[13]

Save The Children, a self-help group run by a non-governmental organisation has done yeomen service in the area. They started motivating the trafficking agents. The focal point was talk about their own daughters and children. The risk involved in this illegal business was highlighted. That seemed to work and they were assured of their source of living once they quit the profession. They vowed to do away with the scourge of trafficking from their village and started motivating fellow villagers as well as other agents.[14]

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.[15]

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.[16](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.[17] 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.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Ghosh, Amitav, The Hungry Tide, p. 51, Harper Collins/India Today group
  2. 1 2 "Sandeshkhali I Block". onefivenine. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "North 24 Parganas District". Map Gallery – CD Blocks. North 24 Parganas district administration. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  4. 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.
  5. ↑ LSS O’Malley. "Bengal District Gazzetteers: 24 Parganas". p 1-4. Google Books. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "District Human Development Report: North 24 Parganas" (PDF). p 250. Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal, 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "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. ↑ Chatterjee, Raiib. "Cops don grease-paint to create awareness". The Statesman, 14 November 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  13. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ravik. "They left these villages for jobs, never to return". Indian Express, 12 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  14. ↑ "Once trafficking agents, they have now vowed to remove the scourge". Indian Express, 7 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  15. ↑ "Electrification of Sundarbans through non-conventional energy sources". WBREDA. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  16. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ravik. "Micro credit tool for women’s empowerment". Micr credit for poultry farming. babaloknath.org. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  17. ↑ "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.
  18. ↑ "Sundarbans gratitude to Lapierre". The Telegraph, 30 November 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
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