Champdani

Geography

Champdani is located at 22.8°N 88.37°E / 22.8; 88.37. It has an average elevation of 12 metres (39 feet).

The Ganga River in the east, farming area in the west (like Singur area), Bhadreshwar is in the north side, and Baidyabati in south side.

Demographics

As of 2011 census of India, Champdani had a population of 110,983. Males constitute 53.42% of the population and females 46.57%. Champdani has an average literacy rate of 82.39%, higher than the national average of 74%; with male literacy of 88% and female literacy of 75.91%. 10.45% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The following Municipalities and Census Towns in Hooghly district were part of Kolkata Urban Agglomeration in 2011 census: Bansberia (M), Hugli-Chinsurah (M), Bara Khejuria (Out Growth), Shankhanagar (CT), Amodghata (CT), Chak Bansberia (CT), Naldanga (CT), Kodalia (CT), Kulihanda (CT), Simla (CT), Dharmapur (CT), Bhadreswar (M), Champdani (M), Chandannagar (M Corp.), Baidyabati (M), Serampore (M), Rishra (M), Rishra (CT), Bamunari (CT), Dakshin Rajyadharpur (CT), Nabagram Colony (CT), Konnagar (M), Uttarpara Kotrung (M), Raghunathpur (PS-Dankuni) (CT), Kanaipur (CT) and Keota (CT).

Banks and Financial Houses

There are few Banks and financial houses that serve the people living in Champdani and nearby areas. While State Bank of India is the busiest of all, other banks like Bank Of India, Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank also have their presence here.

Industry

Champdani is in the heart of the jute mills area of Hooghly district and given below is a glimpse of how the jute mills in the area function.

Northbrook Jute Mill at Champdani, which was closed on 15 June 2014, after murder of its CEO, H.K.Maheswari, in broad daylight, reopened on 1 July 2014. It employs about 4,000 workers. Northbrook Jute Co. was incorporated on 27 January 1908.

Dalhousie Jute Mill at Champdani (PO Baidyabati) was closed on 1 June 2017. The mill employed around 5,000 workers and produced around 120 tonnes per day. The mill had been opened in 1905 and was upgrading – replacing old machinery with modern ones requiring less manpower. The workers had been protesting against this and production had been suspended since 29 April 2017. In 2002, Suresh Kumar Prasad, the chief personnel manager, had been shot dead as a sequel to a labour dispute.

Angus Jute Mill at Angus, Champdani, closed down on 28 October 2014 following a dispute regarding transfer of 15 workers from one department to another. The mill employed around 4,500 workers. Several years earlier, on 1 November 1983, the workers of the mill, owned by Kolkata's Thomas Duff and company, killed their manager, Amal Bose, for delay in payment of wages.

Amongst the other well-known industrial units in Champdani are:

Lagan Engineering is a jute machinery manufacturing company set up in 1955 in Angus in Champdani. The machinery it has manufactured has been functioning well in numerous jute mills. It has been modernising to keep abreast with the latest technological developments. It was initially set up by the Northern Ireland based-James Mackie & Sons, run for a short period by the Government of India, which subsequently divested its shares to Murlidhar Ratanlal Exports Ltd.

Shyama Industries jute machinery manufacturing and supplier of jute machinery manufacturer of jute machinery was established at Angus in 1991.

Braithwaite’s Angus Works was set up at Champdani in 1960 for manufacturing cranes, foundry products and machinery components etc. In 2010, the administrative control of Braithwaite & Co. was taken over by the Ministry of Railways.

Fortunately, the militancy that affects jute mill workers, does not seem to affect other industries, who also want to stay aloof from what is happening in the jute industry.

Transport

Champdani is well connected to the nearby city Kolkata by various means of transportation. The most common transport link is through the Howrah-Bandel Line of the suburban railway system which is also the efficient of all.Frequency of each sub urban train is of 5–10 minutes depending on the time of the day. The railway station provides basic amenities to the commuters such as Drinking water and overhead sheds.It is also well connected to other cities by roadways and frequent buses and autorickshaws are available for commuters.Falta Ferry Service caters to the need of people to cross the river ganges and land at Ishapore.Cycle rickshaws are also in numbers to cover shorter distances. Though there are shortages of hired cabs but that hardly effects the transport communications.

Culture and Festivals

Almost 70% of the population consists of Hindus.Being a place with six huge factories, people from various parts of the country also came and got settled here. While majority of migrants are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh & also Bengali family, a decent number of people can be found from other parts of the country too. Though the population is diversified in nature but still there are no instance of communal violence. People are very hospitable and live in peace and harmony. As majority of the city population belong to Hindu faith, Chat Puja is the most visible of all festivals. Other notable festivals are Diwali/Kalipuja,Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Dol jatra/Holi, Rakhi, Eid and Christmas.