Habra II

Location

Guma, a census town in Habra II block, is located at 22°50′N 88°38′E.

Habra II CD Block is bounded by Haringhata CD Block in Nadia district in the north, Habra I CD Block in the east, Barasat I CD Block in the south and Amdanga CD Block in the west.

Area

Habra II CD Block has an area of 143.30 km².

Physical features

North 24 Parganas district is part of the Gangetic delta, lying east of the Hooghly River. The country is flat. It is a little raised above flood level and the highest ground borders the river channels. The rivers in the district were formerly distributaries of the Ganges but their mouths have long been filled up and blocked. The area is described as a sort of a drowned land broken by swamps. Land in the north-east of the district is higher than that of the rest of the district. The sturdy peasants raise crops of rice, jute and sugarcane from the alluvial soil. There are clumps of palm and fruit trees in which village homesteads nestle. Industrial activity is concentrated in the narrow strip of land along the Hooghly River. The south-eastern part of the district gradually merges into the Sunderbans. Parts of the metropolitan city of Kolkata extend over southern part of the district.

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Habra lI block/ panchayat samiti are: Banspole, Bhurkunda, Guma I, Rajibpur Bira, Beraberi, Dighara Malikberia, Guma II and Srikrishnapur.

Demographics

As per 2011 Census of India Habra II CD Block had a total population of 176,490, of which 140,675 were rural and 35,185 were urban. There were 90,466 (51%) males and 86,024 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 19,756. Scheduled Castes numbered 31,665 and Scheduled Tribes numbered 4,075.

As per 2001 census, Habra II block has a total population of 149,803 out of which 77,014 were males and 72,709 were females. Population of the rural areas in the block was 134,322 and that of the urban areas was 15,471. Habra II block registered a population growth of 22.24 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the district was 22.40 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.

Census towns and large villages

Census towns in Habra II CD Block were (2011 census figures in brackets): Guma (12,025), Bara Bamonia (7,193), Khorddabamonia (5,856) and Bira (10,741).

Large villages in Habra II CD Block were (2011 census figures in brackets): Dighra (4,257) and Tajpur (4,092).

Literacy

As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Habra II CD Block was 127,039 (81.05% of the population over 6 years) out of which 68,148 (54%) were males and 58,891 (46%) were females.

As per 2011 census, literacy in North 24 Parganas district was 84.06 (including urban areas outside the CD Blocks). Literacy in West Bengal was 77.08% in 2011. Literacy in India in 2011 was 74.04%.

See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Language

Bengali is the local language in these areas.

Religion

In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 89,747 and formed 50.85% of the population in Habra II CD Block. Muslims numbered 86,052 and formed 48.76% of the population. Others numbered 691 and formed 0.39% of the population.

In 1981 Hindus numbered 79,050 and formed 80.30% of the population and Muslims numbered 18,883 and formed 19.20% of the population in Habra I CD Block. In 1981 Hindus numbered 60,268 and formed 67.12% of the population and Muslims numbered 29,206 and formed 32.53% of the population in Habra II CD Block. In 1991 Hindus numbered 180,690 and formed 63.80% of the population and Muslims numbered 101,571 and formed 35.84% of the population in Habra I and Habra II CD Blocks taken together. (In 1981 and 1991 census was conducted as per jurisdiction of the police station.)

In the 2011 census, Hindus numbered 7,352,769 and formed 73.46% of the population in North 24 Parganas district. Muslims numbered 2,584,684 and formed 25.82% of the population. In West Bengal Hindus numbered 64,385,546 and formed 70.53% of the population. Muslims numbered 24,654,825 and formed 27.01% of the population.

Human Development Report

According to Census 2001, 54% of the population of North 24 Parganas district lived in the urban areas. The district had 1,571 inhabited villages spread over 22 community development blocks. In the urban area there were 27 municipalities, 20 census towns, 7 urban outgrowths and one town under Cantonment Board. The North 24 Parganas district Human Development Report opines that in spite of agricultural productivity in North 24 Parganas district being rather impressive 81.84% of rural population suffered from shortage of food. The number of families living below the poverty line varied widely from block to block. Even in some municipal areas, such as Baduria, Gobardanga, Taki, Basirhat, Bangaon and Habra surveys have revealed large percentage of people living in poverty. Several poverty alleviation schemes are under implementation mostly at the block level. North 24 Parganas district with a population density of 2,192 persons per square km, was the third densest in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Howrah. The high density of population in the district is largely because of large scale migration of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan, particularly in the period 1947 to 1955. In 2004, life expectancy at birth of a female was 71 years and that of a male was 66 years. With a literacy rate of 68.74% in 2001, the district was second only to Kolkata in the state in literacy. There were 6,139 habitations in the rural areas of North 24 Parganas. Out of these 2,331 habitations have primary schools within the villages and another 3,334 habitations have primary schools within 1 km. There are 474 habitations with primary schools beyond 1 km from the village. There were 258 high schools in the rural areas of the district.

Habra II CD Block had a population density of 1,193 persons per km². It was ranked 11 amongst the 22 CD Blocks for density of population in 2001. It had a literacy rate of 73.15%, ranking of 6. Male literacy rate was 79.76% and female literacy rate was 66.10%. Percentage distribution of main workers in Habra II CD Block was cultivators 24.06, agricultural labourers 26.03, household industry workers 2.91 and other workers 46.99 (non-agricultural, non-household). 31.75% of households in this CD Block lived below poverty line.

In the Habra II CD Block 11 villages had secondary schools and for 98.72% villages a college was more than 5 km away. Habra II had 11 high schools with 11,628 students and 146 teachers. It had 6 higher secondary schools with 6,486 students and 120 teachers.

In Habra II, 94.87% of the villages had electricity for domestic use, 66.67% villages had paved approach roads, 75.64% villages had primary schools, 25.64% of the villages had maternity and child welfare centres, and 100% villages had drinking water. The tube well is the source of drinking water in 1,244 out of 1,572 villages in the district. In Habra II CD Block, 63 villages had tube wells for drinking water and 15 villages had tap water. Habra II CD Block had 287.5 km surfaced roads and 99 km unsurfaced roads.

North 24 Parganas is one of the leading districts in the formation and development of self-help groups. In Habra II there were 254 such groups. The major activities done by these groups were poultry and tailoring. Habra II CD Block had 3 health centres and 27 sub-centres.

Education

There are 12 Secondary Schools in this community development block affiliated to West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.

1. Dighara Haradayal Vidyapith
2. Tangra Adarsha Sikshaniketan
3. Rajibpore A.V. High School
4. Rajibpore Girls High School
5. Bira Ballavpara High School
6. Bira Ballavpara Santipipasha Ballav High School
7. Guma Rabindra Vidyapith
8. Nazrul Balika Vidyalaya
9. Suria Moulana Abul Kalam Azad High School
10. Natni High School
11. Mena Sarojini Pahar High School
12. Sendanga Chaturdash Pally High School

Healthcare

Habra II block is one of the areas where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination.