Brief About North Dinajpur District
North Dinajpur
The district of Uttar Dinajpur (uttar meaning North) came into
existence on 1992-04-01 after the bifurcation of erstwhile West
Dinajpur District. The District lies between latitude 25°11'
N to 26°49' N and longitude 87°49' E to 90°00' E occupying
an area of 3142 km2 enclosed by Bangladesh on the east, Bihar
on the west, Darjeeling District and Jalpaiguri District on the
north and Malda District and South Dinajpur District on the south.
Uttar Dinajpur is well connected with the rest of the state through
National Highways, State Highways and Railways. NH-31 and NH-34
pass through the heart of the district.
The regional topography is generally flat with
a gentle southerly slope towards which the main rivers like Kulik,
Nagar, Mahananda. The District forms a part of the basin lying
between Rajmahal hills on the east. The older alluvium is estimated
to be Pleistocene age. Uttar Dinajpur is bestowed with a very
fertile soil.The soil is very rich in nature due to the alluvial
deposition which helps to grow Paddy, Jute, Mesta and Sugarcane
etc. Raiganj on the banks of the River Kulik is the District Headquarters
where the "Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary", the second largest
bird sanctuary in Asia, is situated.
In Uttar Dinajpur district, there are 2 sub-divisions,
Raiganj and Islampur, 110 km apart from each other. There are
4 Municipalities, 9 Blocks and 99 Panchayats covering 1577 villages.
The total population is nearly 25 lakh (2.5 million), comprising
mainly of rural masses. Bengali is the main language but a sizeable
number of Urdu and Hindi speaking people live in Islampur sub-division.
Profile
In Uttar Dinajpur District there are 2 Sub-Divisions
Raiganj & Islampur , 110Km apart from each other. District
having border length of 227 km (approx) in the east with Bangladesh.
There are 4 Municipalities,9 Blocks and 98 Panchayats covering
1516 villages.The total population is nearly 25 Lakh comprising
mainly of rural masses.Bengali is the main language but a sizeable
portion of Urdu and Hindi speaking people live in Islampur Sub-Division.
The Climate of this district is characterised
by Hot-Summer with High Humidity,abundant Rainfall and Cold Winter.The
Summer begins from April.
Uttar Dinajpur / North Dinajpur
On 1st April, 1992, North Dinajpur was granted the status of a
separated district of North Bengal by dividing West Dinajpur district.
The district is bounded by Bangladesh on the east; Bihar on the
west; Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri on the North and Malda to the
South. The rivers of Kulik, Nagar and Mahananda flow through the
district and provide great fertility to the soil; paddy, jute
and sugarcane are grown in large numbers here.
Raiganj and Islampur are the two main sub-divisions comprising
mainly of Bengali speaking population while Islampur has a large
number of Urdu and Hindi speaking people.
Tourist spots in North Dinajpur
• Sap-nikla forest, located 22 km from Islampur where visitors
can visit the lake and forest for sight seeing.
• Karnajora Museum and park
• Burhana Fakir’s Mosque
• Goddess Kali’s temple at Baira
• Malgaon and Kunore – Famous for
terracotta work
• Goddess Bhairabi’s temple at Bindore
Raiganj
The headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district, Raiganj is a
municipal town since 1951 and one of the major trade centers in
North Bengal having National Highway-34 passing through it. Raiganj
is 425 km from Kolkata and 181kms from Siliguri. The Kulik Bird
Sanctuary is principal attraction of Raiganj. The vast and beautiful
swamp land on the bank of a small river named Kulik provides home
to thousands of migratory birds including Open-Billed Storks,
Night Herons, Egrets and Cormorants and indigenous birds as well.
The sanctuary at Kulik draws thousands of tourists every year
to Raiganj.
Raiganj Bird Sanctuary is located along the National
Highway and lies beside the Kulik River covering an area of 35
acres. It is the second largest bird sanctuary in Asia where migratory
birds like open-bill storks, night-herons, cormorants and egrets
coming from South Asian countries and coastal areas hang around.
Here you can also find local birds like bulbul, kingfisher, dove,
sparrow, woodpeckers and many other species foraging for food
and shelter.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Altitude: 30 metres above sea level.
Temperature (deg C): Summer- Max. 25, Min. 21; Winter- Max. 23,
Min. 09.
Rainfall: 155 cms (July to September).
Languages spoken: Bengali, Hindi, English.
Best season: Throughout the year but preferably October to March.
Islampur
AREA: 343 Sq. KM
POPULATION: 27, 00,000 approx.
Islampur is a small town in the district of North Dinajpur, located
110 km from Raiganj. The town primarily consists of a Muslim population,
which is almost 98 per cent. The rivers of old Brahmaputra and
Yamuna flow through the region. Archeological sites consist of
the tomb of Hazrat Shah Kamal at Durmuth and war memorial at Musharafganj.
The economy is agriculture based and a high percentage of the
people work as agricultural labourers; many flock to the nearby
towns to work as wage labourers in construction and masonry. Fishing,
commerce, services and trade comprises a small portion of the
economy. Crops like paddy, jute, sugarcane, mustard seed, wheat,
vegetables and pulses are grown. Also, fruits like mango, coconut,
papaya, banana and jackfruit are grown in abundance.
Due to the relative isolation of Islampur and lack of education
in the people, it has not made much progress economically compared
to other districts and towns of North Bengal.
Places
North Bengal is truly a treasure hunt for the
nature lovers,
especially for those who are looking for a periodical escape from
the hectic chores of the modern city life. Lying in the Northern
half of the State of West Bengal and encircled by international
boundaries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, North Bengal offers
a unique combination of varied landscape - from high mountainous
region in the extreme north to the vast Gangetic plains in the
extreme south.
The geographical diversity blended with the
cultures of different ethnic groups has placed North Bengal in
the most treasured tourist destinations in Northeast India. North
Bengal comprises of six districts- Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Coochbihar,
North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda.
The landscape, history and cultures of each
district have a distinguished character. While nature has showered
his bountiful beauties in Darjeeling with great Himalayan ranges
passing through it, Jalpaiguri, lying in the sub-Himalayan foothills,
presents a rich biodiversity with dense forests, varied faunal
and floral live forms.
Coochbihar is a city of old palaces of Koch kings, with temples
and large water bodies. North and South Dinajpur are basically
agricultural plains and Malda again is an old civilization and
has its own importance from the archeological point of view for
the famous ruins of Gour kingdom.
From tourism aspects North Bengal has immense potential to cater
the needs of all kinds of travelers. For luxurious leisure tours,
adventures high and low altitude treks, exciting jungle safari,
elephant safari, daring white water rafting, remote village tourism,
ethnic tourism, cultural tourism, angling tour, ornithology tour,
heritage tour and much more North Bengal is just the place one
needs to go.
Agriculture Sector in District
This newly constructed district is preliminarily
agricultural in nature. Here, due to its diverse and surplus production
of various crops like Tea, Jute, Potato, Ginger, Spices and Pineapple
etc. the district has a strong base for agro based and horticulture-
based industry.
