Bhutni is an island in the

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. T ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The island is part of the

Manikchak Manikchak is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Gauda and Pandua Gauda was once the "capital of the ancient bhukti or poli ...

community development block and is surrounded by the Ganga River and the Fulhar river.

Geography

Location

The island is located at . Bhutni is an island fully bounded by the river

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and the Fulahar river.

Area overview

The area shown in the adjoining map is the physiographic sub-region known as the ''diara''. It “is a relatively well drained flat land formed by the

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...

deposition of newer

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

.” The most note-worthy feature is the

Farakka Barrage Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganga river located in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly from the border with Bangladesh near Shibganj. Farakka Barrage Township is located in Farakka (community developmen ...

across the Ganges. The area is a part of the

Malda Sadar subdivision Malda Sadar subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Malda Sadar subdivision covers both the Barind Tract and the Diara, two of the three physiographic subregions of the dis ...

, which is an overwhelmingly rural region, but the area shown in the map has pockets of

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

with 17 census towns, concentrated mostly in the

Kaliachak I Kaliachak I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Gauda and Pandua Gauda was once the "capital of the ancient bhukti or p ...

CD block. The bank of the

between Bhutni and

Panchanandapur Panchanandapur (also known as Pagla Ghat) is the largest village in the eastern side of Ganga River in the Kaliachak II CD block in the Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. History Panchanandapur is loc ...

(both the places are marked on the map), is the area worst hit by left bank erosion, a major problem in the Malda area. The ruins of Gauda, capital of several empires, is located in this area. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the area. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics

The island has 3 out of the 7

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

s of the Manikchak Block. They are Dakshin Chandipur, Uttar Chandipur, and Hiranandapur. At the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Bhutni island had a total population of 89021, of which 46052 are male, while 42969 are females.

Scheduled Castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

numbered are 30149 and

Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

numbered are 33063. There are approximately 63 villages in Bhutni. It has three high schools, one senior

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

, one government sponsored library, five post offices, four commercial banks, and one rural hospital. The only way to travel to Bhutni is by boat, but a bridge is under construction. This will be opened to the public in 2019. The bridge is funded by the North Bengal Development Board, part of the

government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

References

Villages in Malda district Islands of West Bengal Islands of India Populated places in India {{Malda-geo-stub