Country India District Jalpaiguri Time zone IST (UTC+5:30) | State West Bengal Headquarters Malbazar ISO 3166 code ISO 3166-2:IN | |
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Malbazar subdivision, also known as Mal subdivision, is a subdivision of the Jalpaiguri district in the state of West Bengal, India. It consists of Malbazar municipality and three community development blocks: Mal, Metiali and Nagrakata. The three blocks contain 22 gram panchayats. The subdivision has its headquarters at Malbazar. It is a newly created subdivision (1990s) and was earlier part of Jalpaiguri Sadar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district. The area is famous for tea gardens and moist deciduous forests. Important towns besides Malbazar town are Lataguri (the gateway to Gorumara National Park, which is located in the subdivision of Malbazar), Chalsa, Damdim and Matelli.
Contents
Area
Apart from the Malbazar municipality, the subdivision contains rural areas of 22 gram panchayats under three community development blocks: Malbazar, Matiali and Nagrakata. There is no urban area under these three blocks.
Mal block
Rural area under Mal block consists of 12 gram panchayats, viz. Bagrakot, Damdim, Lataguri, Rajadanga, Changmari, Kranti, Moulani, Rangamati, Chapadanga, Kumlai, Odlabari and Tesimala. Mal police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is in Malbazar.
Metiali block
Rural area under Metiali block consists of five gram panchayats, viz. Bidhannagar, Matiali Hat, Matiali–Batabari–II, Indong–Matiali and Matiali–Batabari–I. Metiali police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is in Chalsa.
Nagrakata block
Rural area under Nagrakata block consists of five gram panchayats, viz. Angrabhasa–I, Champaguri, Sulkapara, Angrabhasa–II and Luksan. Nagrakata and Banarhat police stations serve this block. Headquarters of this block is in Nagrakara.
Legislative segments
As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the Malbazar municipality the Mal block will constitute the Mal assembly constituency of West Bengal. The Metiali block and the Nagrakata block will be part of the Nagrakata assembly constituency. Both the constituencies will be reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates. Mal constituency will be part of Jalpaiguri (Lok Sabha constituency), which will be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Nagrakata constituency will be part of Alipurduars (Lok Sabha constituency), which will be reserved for ST candidates.