Maldá

Malda or English Bazar is a metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the sixth largest city in West Bengal.[4] It is the district headquarters of Malda district. It consists of two municipalities, viz. English Bazar Municipality and Old Malda Municipality, under English Bazar Metropolitan Area. Malda was an undeveloped city which was enlarging from 1925 to 1930. The city is growing rapidly nowadays with its population inching towards half a million.

Malda

English Bazar
Metropolitan City / Urban Agglomeration
Malda City Skyline view
Nickname(s): 
Mango City
Malda
Location in West Bengal, India
Malda
Malda (India)
Malda
Malda (Asia)
Coordinates: 25.0119°N 88.1433°E / 25.0119; 88.1433
CountryIndia
StateWest Bengal
DistrictMalda
DivisionMalda
Railway StationMalda Town railway station
Total Wards49
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyEnglish Bazar Municipality
Old Malda Municipality
 • ChairmanNihar Ranjan Ghosh
 • ChairmanKartick Ghosh
Area
13.25 km²(Town)
 • Metropolitan City / Urban Agglomeration81 km2 (31 sq mi)
Elevation
17 m (56 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Metropolitan City / Urban Agglomeration324,237
 • Rank6th in West Bengal
 • Density4,000/km2 (10,000/sq mi)
 • Metro
216,083
Demonym(s)Maldabasi
Languages
 • OfficialBengali[2][3]
 • Additional officialEnglish[2]
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
732101, 732102, 732103, 732141, 732142, 732128
Telephone code91-3512-2xxxxx
Vehicle registrationWB-65/WB-66
Lok Sabha constituencyMaldaha Dakshin, Maldaha Uttar
Vidhan Sabha constituencyEnglish Bazar, Malda
RiverMahananda River
Websitewww.englishbazarmunicipality.com
Malda Skyline as viewed from Dishari Health Point

Geography

Malda is located at 25.0119°N 88.1433°E / 25.0119; 88.1433 Malda district, West Bengal.[5] It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). It is on the western bank of the river Mahananda. As in much of Bengal, the weather is usually extremely humid and tropical. Temperatures can reach as high as 46 °C during the day in May and June and fall as low as 4 °C overnight in December and January.

In Malda, the average annual temperature is 25.4 °C (77.7 °F). Precipitation is about 1,349 mm (53.1 in) per year.[6] The driest month is December. There is 1 mm (0.039 in) of precipitation in December. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs in July, with an average of 319 mm (12.6 in).

Civic administration

There are two municipalities in Malda, i.e. the English Bazar Municipality and the Old Malda Municipality.

The municipality of English Bazar is divided into 29 wards. The Trinamool Congress with 15 councillors holds the power in this municipality (as of 2015).

The municipality of Old Malda is divided into 20 wards.[7]

Transport

Road
A busy Rathbari Junction Night View

NH 12 crosses through the city. The Gour Kanya Bus Terminus serves as the bus depot for both private buses and government bus service operated by the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC).

Rail
Malda Town Railway Station

There are four railway stations which serves the metropolitan city. The Malda Town railway station serves the English Bazar area; the Old Malda Junction railway station serves the Old Malda area; the Malda Court railway station serves Mangalbari and Naldubi area, and the Gour Malda railway station serves Mahadipur and Gauḍa (Gour) area.

Malda Town Railway Station at night

Air

Malda Airport (IATA: LDA, ICAO: VEMH) was closed in 1972 due to the Bangladesh War. Before that there were direct daily flights from Malda to Kolkata, Delhi, and Guwahati. In 2014, direct helicopter services were started between Malda and Kolkata, by the government of West Bengal. As of 2017, the airport is under construction and the flight service will start very soon.

Demographics
See also: List of cities in West Bengal by population

As of the 2011 census, Malda metropolitan city had a total population of 324,237.[8]

As of the 2011 census, English Bazar municipality had a population of 216,083.[1] The municipality had a sex ratio of 877 females per 1,000 males and 14.9% of the population were under six years old.[1] Effective literacy was 84.69%; male literacy was 85.44% and female literacy was 83.86%.[1]

As of 2001 India census,[9] Old Malda Municipality had a population of 62,944. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Old Malda has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 54%. In Old Malda, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people are Hindu. Some Muslim, Shikh, Christian people live here.

Education
Malda Town

University
  • The University of Gour Banga, established in 2008. Almost all the 28 colleges in Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur and Uttar Dinajpur districts (except for Raiganj University College), are affiliated with it.

General degree Colleges

Engineering colleges
The main building of the University of Gour Banga

Polytechnic colleges

Medical colleges

Boys' high schools
A.C. Institution during prize ceremony

Girls' high schools

Rail schools

English medium schools

Hospitals and health care

Malda is becoming the medical hub of this region. Malda Medical College and Hospital is a top class hospital in the district and also nearby district. There many primary healthcare centers in the city. Private nursing homes, a pathology centre, clinics, and medical stores are present.

Malda Medical College and Hospital

The Government of West Bengal decided to set up a new medical college at the strategically located district of Malda, which is easily accessible to the districts in the region of North Bengal.

View of Malda Medical College and Hospital

Malda Railway Hospital

Malda Railway Hospital is established to serve health care for railway needs. It is near the Malda Town Railway Station.

Media And Newspapers

All national channels and also some local media channels like Malda Today, High TV, Sabar Cable, Sabar Monoranjan, MCN News, CCN and DAM's TV are local channels which are operated throughout the city. And also serves nearby districts news like North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, and Murshidabad

Newspapers

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011; Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. "Fact and Figures". www.wb.gov.in. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  3. "52nd REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN INDIA" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. p. 85. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  5. "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Ingraj Bazar,India". fallingrain.com.
  6. "Malda climate: Average Temperature, weather by month, Malda weather averages - Climate-Data.org". en.climate-data.org. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  7. "Battle of couples in Malda civic polls | Kolkata News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  8. "Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011; Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  9. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  10. "English is must-learn, says Asim". The Telegraph. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  11. "BASC Puja 2009: Entertainment". Bascweb.org. Retrieved 3 April 2016.

Further reading
  • Chakrabarti D.K. (1992). Notes on the archaeology of Maldaha and West Dinajpur districts, West Bengal. South Asian Studies, 9:pp. 123–135

Gour-Pandua travel guide from Wikivoyage

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