Jalpaiguri district is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated between 26° 16' and 27° 0' North latitudes and 88° 4' and 89° 53' East longitudes. The district was established in 1869 in British India.
The headquarters of the district are in the Indian city of Jalpaiguri, which is also the divisional headquarters of North Bengal and has its special importance in respect of tourism, forest, hills, tea gardens, scenic beauty and commercialisation and business.
Divisions
Sub-divisions
Jalpaiguri district earlier had three sub-divisions – Jalpaiguri Sadar subdivision, Mal subdivision and Alipurduar subdivision. Alipurduar district was created in June 2014 and Jalpaiguri district was left with two subdivisions – Jalpaiguri Sadar and Mal.
Assembly constituencies
The district is divided into seven assembly constituencies:
Dhupguri (assembly constituency no. 15),
Maynaguri (assembly constituency no. 16),
Jalpaiguri (assembly constituency no. 17),
Rajganj (assembly constituency no. 18),
Dabgram-Phulbari (assembly constituency no. 19),
Mal (assembly constituency no. 20) and
Nagrakata (assembly constituency no. 21).
Nagrakata and Malbazar constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates. Dhupguri, Mainaguri and Rajganj constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. Dhupguri, Mainaguri, Malbazar, Dabgram-Phulbari, Jalpaiguri and Rajganj constituencies form the Jalpaiguri (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contains one assembly constituency from Cooch Behar district.
Impact of delimitation of constituencies
As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district will be divided into seven assembly constituencies:
Dhupguri (SC) (assembly constituency no. 15),
Maynaguri (SC) (assembly constituency no. 16),
Jalpaiguri (SC) (assembly constituency no. 17),
Rajganj (SC) (assembly constituency no. 18),
Dabgram-Phulbari (assembly constituency no. 19),
Mal (ST) (assembly constituency no. 20) and
Nagrakata (ST) (assembly constituency no. 21).
Malbazar and Nagrakata constituencies will remain to be reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates. Dhupguri, Mainaguri, Jalpaiguri and Rajganj constituencies will be reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. Along with one assembly constituency from Cooch Behar district, Dhupguri, Mainaguri, Jalpaiguri, Rajganj, Dabgram-Phulbari, and Malbazar constituencies will form the Jalpaiguri (Lok Sabha constituency), which will be reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Police stations
There are 16 police stations in the district, viz.:
Banarhat
Bhaktinagar
Binnaguri (Phari)
Chalsa
Dhupguri
Domohani (Phari)
Gairkata
Jalpaiguri (Kotwali)
Kranti Hat (Phari)
Malbazar
Matelli (Phari)
Mainaguri
Nagrakata
New Jalpaiguri
Patkata (Phari)
Rajganj
Telephone districts
There are six telephone area codes of Jalpaiguri district. They are 03561, 03562, 03563, 03564, 03565, 03566.
Public transport includes cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, local buses and tempos. There is no metered vehicular transport. While 6-seater city autos ply between two fixed destinations of about 10–15 km, one can hire petrol-driven auto rickshaws from auto stands at a rate fixed by the municipal authorities. A total of 16,000 rickshaws licensed by the municipal corporation.
Rail
Jalpaiguri Urban Agglomeration has five important railway stations:-
Jalpaiguri Town is the oldest station in the area.
Jalpaiguri Road was opened in 1944. It has broad gauge extended to New Bongaigaon.
Mohitnagar lies at Mohitnagar in the Haldibari-New Jalpaiguri line.
Raninagar Jalpaiguri Junction is situated at the further western part of the city. The railway station serves Jalpaiguri, Raninagar and other nearby places.
New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station is a major railway junction in the vicinity.
Road
The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Central Bus Terminus situated next to the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) Bus Stop is a major stop for most private and state-owned buses in the region. The Royal Government of Bhutan also operates buses from Jalpaiguri to its border town Phuentsholing, Bhutan. Air conditioned sleeper coach bus service is also available from Jalpaiguri to Kolkata, Patna and Guwahati. There are several bus stands in the Jalpaiguri:-
NBSTC Depot: Govt. buses are available from here.
Kadamtala Bus Terminus: Private buses to Siliguri are available from here.
Super Bus Stand near the Jalpaiguri railway station – Super (or non-stop) bus services to Siliguri are available from here.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Private Bus Terminus: Buses to the Dooars region, i.e., Malbazar, Birpara, are available from here.
Bowbazaar Bus Stand: Bus services to Haldibari are available from here.
Air
The Bagdogra International Airport, lying about 45 kilometres away is a major airport in the vicinity, serving the city. Also, the Jalpaiguri Aerodrome, an airstrip is located in the suburbs near Panga which however presently is operated mainly as a helipad and is non functional.
Culture
Major festivals observed at Jalpaiguri include Durga puja, Chhath Puja, Ganesh puja, Laxmi puja, Saraswati puja, and Diwali. Baisakhi Mela is one of the oldest fairs in Jalpaiguri which takes place in the Bengali month of Baisakh (i.e., April–May).
Lot of fairs and carnivals take place in Jalpaiguri. The most popular fairs in Jalpaiguri are Baisakhi Mela, Hasta Shilpa Mela, Book Fair, and Lexpo Fair. Most of the fairs happens in the Jalpaiguri Sports Village, Jalpaiguri District Sports Complex Stadium or the Town Club Stadium. The city hosts group theatres, music and dance schools and night clubs.
Education
Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College (JGEC) campus
Jalpaiguri's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Nepali and Hindi are also used. Schools in Jalpaiguri follow the "10+2+3" plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), or the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available. In 2012, the Government proposed a medical college for the suburb of Paharpur.
Colleges include the Ananda Chandra College, Ananda Chandra College of Commerce, P.D. Women's College, St. Xavier's College, all of which are affiliated with the University of North Bengal. Also, since 2011, the second campus of the university with the same name provides with master's degrees in arts, sciences, and commerce. Jalpaiguri Polytechnic Institute, is a Government Diploma level institute with 3 yrs.(10+) Civil, Electrical, Mechanical & Automobile Engineering and 2 yrs.(12+) The Institute of Pharmacy, Jalpaiguri is the sole pharmacist college in the region which offers pharmacy courses under West Bengal State Council of Technical Education, Kolkata. There is also an industrial training institute in the city.
The Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College is an autonomous institution of the Government of West Bengal under the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology. It is located near the National Highway 27 (West Bengal State Highway 12A) at Denguajhar, Jalpaiguri. The construction of the new medical college has shortly began in the Paharpur suburb of the city. Jalpaiguri Law College is the city's law college.
Media
Newspaper: English-language newspapers include the Times of India, The Economic Times, The Asian Age, The Statesman and The Telegraph. Several Bengali newspapers, including Uttarbanga Sambad, Bartaman, Ganashakti, Aajkaal and Pratidin are also available.
Radio: In addition to All India Radio, other private FM radio stations of Radio High 92.7 MHz, Red FM 93.5 MHz and Radio Misty 94.3 MHz are available from the city.
Television : Jalpaiguri receives almost all the television channels that are received by the rest of India. Apart from the state-owned terrestrial network Doordarshan, cable television serves most of the homes in the city, while satellite television is common in the outlying areas and in wealthier households. Besides mainstream Indian channels, the city also receives some Nepali and Bangladeshi television channels. Local news broadcasts, sporting events, and concerts are broadcast live or delayed via cable to many households. DTH services by government and private companies are also available such as Tata Sky, Dish TV, Videocon d2h, Airtel Digital TV and Reliance Digital TV. Jalpaiguri has four local channels – JCC, CCN, Uttarer Mon and Amar Cable.
Internet: Internet cafes can be found in the main market area, served through broadband services provided by BSNL and other private companies like MetroNET (Orange Networks) and Sinet (JCC and CCN).
Mobile phone: The area is serviced by cell phone companies such as Idea, Vodafone, Jio (4G), Airtel, Aircel, BSNL, Reliance, Tata Indicom, MTS, Tata Docomo, Virgin Mobile and Uninor. And also has 3G network of BSNL, Reliance, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, and Aircel.
Sports
Jalpaiguri Sports Village/ Jalpaiguri Biswa Bangla Kriranan
Table tennis, cricket, taekwon-do, chess and football are the most popular sports here. The Jalpaiguri District Sports Complex Stadium and the Town Club Stadium are the city's only outdoor stadiums and have hosted many state and national level matches. The stadium houses the Sports Authority of India sports hostel for athletes. There are three indoor stadiums at Shilpasamitipara, Raikatpara and Hakimpara, respectively in the southern part of the city. The new stadium next to Sports Complex has facilities for lawn tennis, badminton, table tennis, and other indoor sports.
Visitor attractions
Teesta Bay
Raikatpara Palace Gate
Bay of the River Teesta
Rajbari Dighi, an urban lake attached just opposite to the Baikunthapur Palace
The Alley on the banks of the river Karala
Spurs of the Teesta
Entrance to the Gorumara National Park
Road Way for tourist in Gorumara National Park
Gorumara National Park, Malbazar, Jalpaiguri district
Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary
Royal Palace of Baikunthapur Royal Estate, at Rajbaripara. The building has made in the early twentieth century in place of the old palace by Raja Jayantadev Raikot.
Rabindra Bhawan (also called the Arya Natya Samaj), a cultural centre
Jogomaya Kalibari, a famous temple dedicated to the Goddess Kali on Temple Street. It also houses a temple of Baba Loknath.
Sri Adyashakti Ma Bhramari Devi Temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas
Devi Chaudhurani Mandir- It is believed that Devi Chaudhurani the bandit queen from the novel of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, has her Kali Temple near the banks of the Karala River and has an underground subway to the banks of Teesta.
Notable residents
Ratan Lal Basu, fiction writer in English
Swapna Barman, heptathlete was born here
Samaresh Majumdar, Bengali author of novels like Uttoradhikar, Kalpurush, and Kaalbela.
Pradip Kumar Banerjee, football player and coach who represented India at the international level.
Bappi Lahiri, Indian singer
Mimi Chakraborty, Tollywood actress and Member of Parliament from Jadavpur constituency
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalpaiguri_district
