Basirhat
Basirhat | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Rabindra Saikat Park, Located in the banks of Ichamati river, Basirhat City. | |
  Basirhat Location in West Bengal, India  Basirhat Basirhat (India) | |
| Coordinates: 22°39′26″N 88°53′39″E / 22.65722°N 88.89417°E | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | North 24 Parganas |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Body | Basirhat Municipality |
| • Municipality Chairman | Aditi Roychowdhury Mitra[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 22.50 km2 (8.69 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 125,254 |
| • Density | 5,600/km2 (14,000/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali, English |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | |
| Area code | 3217[6] |
| Vehicle registration | WB-21 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Basirhat |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Basirhat Dakshin, Basirhat Uttar |
| Website | https://basirhatmunicipality.in |
Basirhat is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Basirhat subdivision. Established on April 1, 1869, Basirhat is one of the oldest municipal boards in West Bengal.[7]
Etymology
[edit]According to Dr. Sukumar Sen (linguist), Basirhat is named after a person named ‘Basi’. Referring to Bengali Dictionary, the word Basi means-Indriya Basban (ইন্দ্রিয় বসবান), Jitendriya (জিতেন্দ্রিয়), Apradhin (অপরাজেয়), Sadhin (স্বাধীন), and Swatantra (স্বতন্ত্র). From this it may be concluded that Basirhat was an independent tax-free business centre. Like present day’s Free Business Centres.
The sources which are considered till now behind the naming of Basirhat are as follows:
•Basurhat – market for various items.
•Banserhat – market for buying and selling bamboos.
•Bastirhat – low land market.
There is a lot of controversy and debate regarding the naming of “Basirhat”. But all explanations are satisfying and are causally related in some or other way.[8][9][10]
Geography
[edit]
5miles
River
River
River
check post
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
Location
[edit]Basirhat is located at 22°39′40″N 88°51′59″E / 22.66111°N 88.86639°E.
Area overview
[edit]The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located in the lower Ganges Delta. It contains soil of mature black or brownish loam to recent alluvium. Numerous rivers, creeks and khals criss-cross the area. The tip of the Sundarbans National Park is visible in the lower part of the map (shown in green but not marked). The larger full screen map shows the full forest area.[11] A large section of the area is a part of the Sundarbans settlements.[12] The densely populated area is an overwhelmingly rural area. Only 12.96% of the population lives in the urban areas like Basirhat and 87.04% of the population in rural areas.[13][14]
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full-screen map.
Climate
[edit]Basirhat is subject to a tropical savanna climate that is designated Aw climate under the Köppen climate classification.[15] According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".[16] This municipal region is usually the hottest region of Basirhat subdivision due to its urbanized characteristics.[17]
Special weather phenomena - Often, in April–June, the region is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as Kalbaisakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or 'norwesters' in English.[18]
| Climate data for Basirhat City | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34 (93) |
38 (100) |
44 (111) |
46 (115) |
43 (109) |
36 (97) |
35 (95) |
39 (102) |
36 (97) |
36 (97) |
35 (95) |
33 (91) |
46 (115) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.0 (82.4) |
31.9 (89.4) |
36.1 (97.0) |
38.7 (101.7) |
38.2 (100.8) |
36.2 (97.2) |
33.4 (92.1) |
32.9 (91.2) |
32.6 (90.7) |
31.9 (89.4) |
30.9 (87.6) |
28.3 (82.9) |
33.3 (91.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.6 (58.3) |
18.6 (65.5) |
21.9 (71.4) |
25.9 (78.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
28.9 (84.0) |
27.6 (81.7) |
27.1 (80.8) |
26.4 (79.5) |
22.7 (72.9) |
18.0 (64.4) |
14.8 (58.6) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 6.4 (43.5) |
7.1 (44.8) |
13.6 (56.5) |
17 (63) |
21 (70) |
20.1 (68.2) |
19.5 (67.1) |
22 (72) |
19 (66) |
19 (66) |
15 (59) |
5.2 (41.4) |
5.2 (41.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 3.2 (0.13) |
11.3 (0.44) |
19.8 (0.78) |
40.9 (1.61) |
71.3 (2.81) |
176.3 (6.94) |
251.1 (9.89) |
247.0 (9.72) |
181.4 (7.14) |
104.2 (4.10) |
38.4 (1.51) |
6.8 (0.27) |
96.0 (3.78) |
| Average rainy days | 0.6 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 7.8 | 12.8 | 21.9 | 28.3 | 29.1 | 24.4 | 14.2 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 12.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 43.8 | 41.6 | 47.8 | 57.2 | 62.7 | 68.1 | 76.8 | 79.9 | 81.1 | 74.9 | 58.9 | 48.6 | 61.8 |
| Source: Weather & Climate[19] | |||||||||||||
Natural disasters
[edit]Cyclone
[edit]On May 2009, Cyclone Aila brought heavy rainfall and strong winds, causing damage to weak structures.[20]
On May 2020, Cyclone Amphan affected the area with maximum sustained wind speed of 150 km/h. This severe cyclone caused major damage to houses and crops in the area.[21][22] Prime minister Narendra Modi was received at the airport by governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and chief minister Mamata Banerjee who accompanied him on the aerial survey of some of the worst-affected parts of the state before landing in Basirhat College, 50 km from Kolkata airport. After holding a conference in Basirhat, Modi announced Rs 1,000 cr immediate relief for cyclone hit areas.[23][24][25]
Hailstorm
[edit]On February 19, 2025, a severe Hailstorm occurred in the Basirhat subdivision, including the municipal region, causing minor damages to weak structures and agriculture.[26][27]
A similar incident occurred on March 22, 2014, when a 20 minutes hailstorm event caused damage to approximately 2,500 homes in parts of North 24 Parganas, including Barasat, Basirhat, Barrackpore and Bongaon.[28]
Demographics
[edit]According to the 2011 census of India, Basirhat Municipality had a population of 125,254. Basirhat had a sex ratio of 981 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 87.35%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 18.94% and 0.41% of the population respectively.[30]
Bengali is the predominant language, spoken by 99.77% of the population.[31]
Art and Culture
[edit]Durga puja
[edit]Celebrations
[edit]Durga puja is the biggest festival of Basirhat. The scale and intensity of Basirhat's durga puja celebration is among the biggest in North 24 Parganas with more than 100 installations in the city.[32] Prantik Square Sorbojonin is the biggest puja committee of Basirhat, often resembling Kolkata's Maddox Square puja committee because of its atmosphere. This place becomes a meeting point of all ages during the puja days.[33]
Traditions
[edit]For more than 150 years, the Durga idol has been immersed on boats in this city. On the day of Vijayadashami, people usually come in Basirhat to see the immersion festival. The idols and installations have changed in the modern era, but the immersion continues to be done in the Ichamati River by boat according to the ancient tradition. A fair is held on both banks of the river centering on the immersion. The special attraction of this fair is wooden furniture and various wooden items.[34][35]
Cultural centers
[edit]Basirhat has got plenty of cultural and community centers for promoting the art and culture of the city, Rabindra Bhaban is one of them. Located near the Lake Terrace area, many concerts, performances, drama and art events are usually happen during the festive time or on the weekend. In 2017, Basirhat municipality allocated 4 Cr rupees for the further development of Rabindra Bhaban.[36]
Civic administration
[edit]Police station
[edit]Basirhat police station covers an area of 267 km2 and serves a population of 637,538. Basirhat PS has under it Basirhat town outpost and two other outposts at Panitor and Boatghat. The police district has a 22 km border, out which 14 km is land border and 8 km is riverine border. 11 km of the border remains unfenced. Basirhat PS has jurisdiction over Basirhat municipal area and Basirhat I CD Block.[37]
Around half of the 4,095 km long India-Bangladesh border has been fenced and vigil along the border has been tightened up. As of 2017, Cattle smuggling across the border was unofficially estimated to be a Rs. 4,000 crore business, half of it across the Basirhat border and the balance through Malda and Murshidabad.[38]
In 2017, The Sunday Guardian reported, “The crackdown by the Border Security Force (BSF) on the illegal, but lucrative, business of cow smuggling along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, resulted in immense resentment among a section of the area’s minority community. This culminated in the communal flare-up in the state’s Basirhat sub-division earlier this month. A source close to the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress told The Sunday Guardian over phone, “Cow smuggling to Bangladesh, through the riverine border in Basirhat, Taki and other adjoining areas, has taken a hit as the BSF has become very strict and is maintaining a constant vigil. This has hurt the locals, who were earning crores from these illegal activities. Rendered jobless, they blamed the situation on the majority community.”[39]
CD block HQ
[edit]The headquarters of Basirhat I CD block are located at Basihat.[40]
Education
[edit]Basirhat College was established in 1947. Affiliated with the West Bengal State University, it offers honours courses in Bengali, English, Sanskrit, philosophy, political science, history, geography, education, accountancy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, physiology and economics. It also offers general courses in arts, science and commerce, and a post-graduate course in Bengali.[41][42]
Healthcare
[edit]The Basirhat District & Super Specialty Hospital under The Health & Family Welfare Department of the State Government of West Bengal has been given the responsibility of conserving and emerging the health care facility within Basirhat sub-division & its surrounding catchment area since 1965, Basirhat District Hospital & Super Specialty Hospital caters health services amongst 22.7 lakhs populations covering 1777 km2. In the year 2013, the 250 bedded Basirhat Sub-Division Hospital augmented to 300 Bedded District Hospital and later on, in the year 2017 the District Hospital increased with additional 300 beds with introduction of Super Specialty Hospital, now Basirhat District Hospital & Super Specialty Hospital with 600 beds. [43]
Basirhat is one of the areas where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination.[44]
Notable people
[edit]- Titumir
- Tapan Bandyopadhyay
- Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
- Saptarshi Banerjee
- Rafikul Islam Mondal
- Manoj Mitra
- Amar Mitra (writer)
External links
[edit]
Media related to Basirhat at Wikimedia Commons- Basirhat Municipality Website
External videos 
My city is Basirhat (with commentary in Bengali) Fencing of India-Bangladesh border
References
[edit]- ^ Official District Administration site Archived 20 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Basirhat Municipality".
- ^ "Basirhat Post Office, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal - 743411". India Server. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "Basirhat RS Post Office, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal - 743412". India Server. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "Bhabla Post Office, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal - 743422". India Server. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "North 24 Parganas Area Codes". Area Code Base. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "About Basirhat Municipality". Basirhat Municipality. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
- ^ "History". Basirhat Municipality. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "বসিরহাট নামকরণের ইতিহাস জানুন". News18 Bengali (in Bengali). 6 June 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "জানেন কি উত্তর ২৪ পরগনা জেলার এই শহরের নাম বসিরহাট কেন? রয়েছে এক অদ্ভুত কারণ". News18 Bengali (in Bengali). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "District Census Handbook North Twenty Four Parganas, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A" (PDF). Page 13. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "District Human Development Report: South 24 Parganas". Chapter 9: Sundarbans and the Remote Islanders, p 290-311. Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal, 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ "District Statistical Handbook". North 24 Parganas 2013, Tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.4b. Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ "District Census Handbook North Twenty Four Parganas, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A" (PDF). Map of North Twenty Four Parganas with CD Block HQs and Police Stations (on the fifth page). Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ "Climatic zone map of India as per Köppen's classification" (Figure). ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Hazard profiles of Indian districts" (PDF). National Capacity Building Project in Disaster Management. UNDP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "West Bengal Weather Report: Record Temperature and Extreme Heat in Bengali New Year". News18 Bengali (in Bengali). Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ Sen Gupta, Prabhat Kumar (1943). "Kalbaishakhis (Thundersqualls) of Bengal" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 24 (3): 96–104.
- ^ "Climate and average monthly weather in Basirhat, India". Weather & Climate. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "Flood Management Scheme in Aila-affected areas". Irrigation & Waterways Department, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "ঘূর্ণিঝড় আমফানের তাণ্ডবে বিধ্বস্ত বসিরহাট, সর্বত্র ধ্বংসের চিহ্ন". সংবাদ প্রতিদিন (in Bengali). 21 May 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Amphan leaves a trail of ruined houses and lives in Basirhat". The Times of India. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "PM Modi announces Rs 1,000 cr immediate relief for Cyclone Amphan-hit Bengal". Hindustan Times. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Bengal: Modi, Mamata Banerjee reach Basirhat after survey of Amphan-hit areas". India Blooms. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Cyclone Amphan leaves 74 dead, millions without power in West Bengal; Narendra Modi leaves for Kolkata". Firstpost. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "হঠাৎ শিলাবৃষ্টিতে লন্ডভন্ড উত্তর ২৪ পরগনার বসিরহাট সহ বিস্তীর্ণ এলাকা, বিরাট ক্ষতি চাষে!". Oneindia Bengali (in Bengali). 19 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "শিলাবৃষ্টিতে বিপর্যস্ত বসিরহাট ও সুন্দরবনের বিস্তীর্ণ এলাকা". News18 বাংলা (in Bengali). 19 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Hailstorm hits North 24-Parganas". The Times of India. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Table C-01 Population by Religion: West Bengal". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
- ^ "District Census Handbook: North 24 Parganas" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
- ^ "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: West Bengal". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
- ^ "বসিরহাট শহর ও মহকুমা এলাকায় থিম দুর্গাপুজোতে মাইলফলক". News18 বাংলা (in Bengali). Network18. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ সম্পাদকীয় দল (17 October 2023). "বসিরহাট প্রান্তিকের দুর্গাপুজো". News18 বাংলা (in Bengali). Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "Immersion by Boat in Ichamati at Basirhat: Crowds of Hundreds of Thousands on Both Riverbanks". Zee News Bengali (in Bengali). Zee Media Corporation. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ শুভদীপ ঘোষ (12 October 2024). "ইছামতী নদীতে দুর্গা প্রতিমা বিসর্জন". BanglaLive (in Bengali). Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "The repair and renovation work of Rabindra Bhawan is underway". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). Retrieved 23 February 2025.
- ^ "Know your police station". Basirhat PS. North 24 Parganas district police. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Guha Roy, Shantanu (12 July 2017). "Riots in Basirhat had nothing to do with religion, it's a Hindu-Muslim fight over controlling cow smuggling". Firstpost, 13 July 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Crack down on cow smuggling triggered Basirhat violence". Dibyendu Mondal. The Sunday Guardian, 16 July 2017. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "District Census Handbook North Twenty Four Parganas, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A" (PDF). Map of North Twenty Four Parganas with CD Block HQs and Police Stations (on the fifth page). Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Basirhat College". BC. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Basirhat College". College Admission. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "Health & Family Welfare Department". Health Statistics. Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "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. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
Cities, towns, locations and neighbourhoods in North 24 Parganas district, Presidency division | |||||||||
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