Geography

Location and Identity

Bardhaman (Burdwan/Barddhaman) district of West Bengal is spread over an area of 7024 sq. kms. The district lies between the Ajay and Bhagirathi or Hooghly rivers. It is bounded on the north by the Dumka of Bihar, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts, on the east by Nadia; on the south by Hooghly and Bankura, and on the west by Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. The natural boundaries formed by the rivers to the north, east and south are fairly constant and there have been no major changes over the period. Headquarter of the district is Bardhaman.

The district has a population of over 6.91 million (2001 census). Overall, there were 921 females per 1000 males. About 65% of the population was living in the rural area. The density of the population was 985 per sq. km. Bengali, and Hindi are the main language spoken in the district.

District Profile

Main rivers of the district are Ajay. Bhagirathi or Hooghly, Damodar and Barakar. In the district 30,949 hectares of the total land are covered by forest. These forest areas are broadly classified into Reserved Forests, Protected forests and unclassified state forests and lands. The district Bardhaman has the pride of having over 194 coalmines within its jurisdiction. The coals are being mined in Raniganj Coalfield since the year 1800. There are vast reserves of superior non-coking and inferior quality coals in these areas. Raniganj coalfield also contains large reserves of iron ore occurring chiefly as nodules. Good quality fire clay occurs in the Barakar stage of the Raniganj coalfield. Besides, the fire clays, various other types of useful clays occur at several places in the Raniganj coalfield belt, of which, the pottery clays of the Ronei and the light coloured brick clays of Durgapur deserved special mention.

The district is well connected by rail and road. The district headquarterBardhaman(Burdwan/Barddhaman) is connected by rail and road with Kolkata and other towns of West Bengal. The district head­quarters and the subdivision headquarters Asansol—both are railway junctions. The main line of Eastern Railway traverses the district. The Grand Trunk Road passes through the district from Kolkata. The road traverses the district of 160 kilometers running parallel with the Eastern Railway main line.

The district Bardhaman(Burdwan/Barddhaman) is predominantly an agricultural district, which is properly known as the granary of West Bengal. Majority of the workers of the district depends on agriculture (i.e. cultivators and agricultural labors).  The principal commodity for trade in the district is rice. Rice is exportedfrom the district to other districts of the state and neighboring countries.

The district has a very good network of Irrigation facilities. The main sources of irrigation are Government canals, tanks, wells and tube wells. The Mayurakshi canals—a major irrigation project, covered an area of 15081 hectares in the district. 254657 hectares of land are irrigated by Damodar Valley Barrage—another major irrigation project of the state.

The Asansol subdivision of the district is one of the major industrial regions in the state of West Bengal. The most important of which is Durgapur, which has been built up as an industrial complex of the state. A large number of large sized industries have come up in the Durgapur township. Besides, three important steel works are found at Kulu, Hirapur and Burnpur. Likewise, locomotive works at Chittaranjan, a big aluminum works at J.K. Nagar, a large paper mill at Raniganj are the important industries that deserve mention.

The number of Higher Secondary/PUC institutions per ten thousand population in the urban area is 0.65. The highest number of such institutions per ten thousand population comes to 1.49 in Chak  Bankola while the lowest is in Kulti with 0.24. The number of Secondary school per ten thousand population for the entire district is 1.05. The district figures for Junior Secondary/Middle and Primary institutions per ten thousand population in the urban sectors of the district are 1.35 and 4.17 respectively.

Of the 49 towns of the district, only 19 towns have the privilege of having the medical institutions with bed. Number of beds in medical institutions per 1000 population comes to 3.42 at the district level. Town wise, the highest number of beds per 1000 population is noticed in Burnpur town (14.69). The second position in respect of the beds in medical institutions goes to Burdwan (3.76).

Accessibility
Regular train services to Bardhaman are available from Howrah and Sealdah stations. Two different routes – the chord line and the main line – are available from Howrah.
Check out Train Schedule from Bardhaman.

Bardhaman is well-connected by buses to the towns of Asansol, Medinipur, Haldia, Malda, Purulia, Bankura and Digha.
Check out Bus Schedule from Bardhaman.

Accommodation
There are numerous private hotels in and around the town…
Hotel Kalyani, Hotel Koner, Hotel Monohar Inn (Anita Cinema Lane), Nataraj Hotel, Hotel Mainak, Hotel Siddhartha,  Hotel Kandari (G.T. Road Near Tinkonia), Park Hotel (Khoshbagan), City Hotel (Near Star Cinema), Hotel Purnasashi (B. C. Rd.),  Hotel Samrat, Joyti Hotel (Near Rly. Station) etc., are located in the heart of Bardhaman.
Check out Hotels at Bardhaman.