Raychak is a village within the jurisdiction of the
Diamond Harbour
Diamond Harbour () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is the headquarters of the Diamond Harbour subdivision.
Histor ...
police station in the
Diamond Harbour II
Diamond Harbour II is a community development block (CD block) that, together with Diamond Harbour I, forms an administrative division in the Diamond Harbour, Diamond Harbour subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state ...
CD block in the
Diamond Harbour subdivision
Diamond Harbour subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Subdivisions
South 24 Parganas district is divided into five administrative subdivisions:
26.04% of the total pop ...
of the
South 24 Parganas
South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. It is the largest district of West Bengal by ...
district in the
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 ...
n
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
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 ...
.
Geography
Area overview
Diamond Harbour subdivision is a rural subdivision with patches of urbanization. Only 14.61% of the population lives in the urban areas and an overwhelming 85.39% lives in the rural areas. In the western portion of the subdivision (shown in the map alongside) there are 11
census town
In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics.
India
In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...
s. The entire district is situated in the
Ganges Delta and the western part, located on the east bank of the
Hooghly River
The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in mythological texts, is the eastern distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, Indi ...
, is covered by the Kulpi Diamond Harbour Plain, which is 5–6 metres above sea level.
Archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
excavations at
Deulpota
Deulpota is an archaeological site located beside the Hooghly river, in the Diamond Harbour II CD block in the Diamond Harbour subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Geography
Location
Deulpota i ...
and
Harinarayanpur, on the bank of the Hooghly River indicate the existence of human habitation more than 2,000 years ago.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Location
Raychak is located at . It has an average elevation of .
Demographics
According to the
2011 Indian Census
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 ...
, Raychak had a total population of 1,243, of which 630 were males and 613 were females. There were 125 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate persons in Raychak was 823, which constituted 66.2% of the population with male literacy of 72.2% and female literacy of 60.0%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Raychak was 73.6%, of which male literacy rate was 80.4% and female literacy rate was 66.7%. The
Scheduled Castes 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 ...
population was 1,133 and 3 respectively. Raychak had 282 households in 2011.
Economy
Tourism
The fort at Raychak gradually fell into ruins and was converted to a lively 5-star hotel,
Raichak on Ganges, formerly Radisson Fort.
The hotel has a scenic view of the river. Those who are adventurous can also use the Raychak jetty or the nearby Nurpur jetty and take a ferry across the river to go to
Kukrahati
Kukrahati is a village in Sutahata CD block in Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal.
Geography
Location
It is located around 60 km from Kolkata, and stands on the bank of the Hooghly river, opposite Raichak in Sout ...
in
East Midnapore
Purba Medinipur (English: ''East Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrative d ...
district or
Gadiara in
Howrah district
Howrah district (, ) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. The urbanised sectors gradually increase the slum populations. Howrah is the third smallest distric ...
.
Transport
A short stretch of local roads link Raychak to the
National Highway 12.
Bridge proposal
From 2003 to 2007, there was a proposal to bridge the Hooghly River from Raychak to Kukrahati. The proposal went through many phases, with support being sought from Malaysian and Japanese companies. In the final version of the proposal, the Indonesian
Salim Group would have handled construction.
The Salim Group had also agreed to construct the Eastern Link Highway, which would have been 100 km long and 100 m wide and spread over . The road would have linked
Barasat with Raychak, ultimately terminating at
Nandigram
Nandigram is a census town in the Nandigram I Community Development Block of the Haldia subdivision in the Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal.
In 2007, the West Bengal government allowed the Salim Group to set up a ch ...
. The projects were to be implemented by New Kolkata International Development Private Ltd, a special purpose company that had been promoted by the Salim Group, the Universal Success Group and Unitech.
The entire project and associated programmes were abandoned by the
Left Front government after the
Nandigram violence
Nandigram Violence refers to the violence in Nandigram, West Bengal, India, in 2007 due to the land acquisition for a project taken up by the CPI(M)-led Government of West Bengal to create a chemical hub, a type of special economic zone (S ...
in 2007. There were suggestions in 2012 that the
All India Trinamool Congress
The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...
was considering reviving the project.
Healthcare
Sarisha Block Primary Health Centre at
Sarisha
Sarisha is a village and a gram panchayat within the jurisdiction of the Diamond Harbour police station in the Diamond Harbour II CD block in the Diamond Harbour subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
...
, with 15 beds, is the major government medical facility in the Diamond Harbour II CD block.
References
External links
Villages in South 24 Parganas district
{{South24Parganas-geo-stub