Panchanandapur (also known as Pagla Ghat) is the largest village in the eastern side of
Ganga River
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 ...
in the
Kaliachak II CD block in 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 ...
of
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 ...
in the state of
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 ...
.
History
Panchanandapur is located in the border area along 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 ...
flowing between
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
and
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 ...
. It is also known for flooding and is a very poor area in
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 ...
. The area is also known as Pagla Ghat because 1998
Ganga River
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 ...
s flood was very madly affected the area and damaged many houses.
Geography
Location
Panchanandapur is located at
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 ...
. It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). It is on the eastern bank of 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 ...
.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.
The Panchanandapur area is vulnerable to floods from the adjoining Ganges.
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
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 ...
between
Bhutni and Panchanandapur (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.
River bank erosion
Upstream of 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 ...
, Kaliachak II CD block is one of the areas badly affected, over three decades prior to 1999, by the left bank erosion of the Ganges. The river stretch between
Bhutnidiara and Panchanandapur, is the worst hit area. “Even 40 years back (from 1999), Panchanandapur was a flourishing river-port and trading centre. Apart from block headquarter, high school, sugar mill it had a regular weekly market where traders used to come by large boats from
Rajmahal
Rajmahal is a subdivisional town and a notified area in Rajmahal subdivision of the Sahebganj district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is situated at the banks of Ganges and was former capital of Bengal Subah under Mughal governor, Man Sin ...
,
Sahebganj
Sahebganj (also known as Sahibganj) is a scenic town and a port city with the serene Ganga and sturdy hills in the Sahibganj subdivision of the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand state, India. It serves as headquarters for Sahibganj District, Sahi ...
,
Dhulian
Dhuliyan is a municipality town in the Jangipur subdivision of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. This municipality was established in the year 1909 and comprises 19 wards. It is located between the Ganges and the Feeder ...
. Today’s Panchanandapur has shifted to Chethrumahajantola after going through the eroding process of 5/6 years.” A survey by the Nagarik Committee has estimated the loss of 750 km
2 in the Kaliachak-Manikchak area, in 30 years prior to 1999.
Demographics
According to 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 ...
, Panchanandapur had a total population of 26,358, of which 13,512 (51%) were males and 12,486 (49%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 4,370. The total number of literate persons in Panchanadapur was 13,578 (61.75% of the population over 6 years).
References
{{Malda District
Villages in Malda district